In many countries, remediation is paid for by government agencies or by private insurance companies through compulsory insurance schemes. In some cases, such as with asbestos removal, the cost may be borne by people who have had no role in causing the contamination. In other cases, such as lead paint removal, the costs may be passed on to landlords who are required to pay them under law.
What is Environment Remediation
Environmental remediation is the process of removing or neutralising pollution. It can involve decontaminating polluted soil, water and air. Environmental Remediation is usually treated as a separate process for which specific goals are defined. Typical goals include reducing the toxicity of a waste material, or its potential to harm human health, or to reduce the risk of environmental damage due to accidental release from a storage site. In many cases, remediation refers to specific actions seeking to fully restore an area. In some cases, it may be advised not to fully restore an area because the cost of doing so may be prohibitively expensive or technically infeasible, or because doing so would not provide any measurable benefit over leaving the site in its current condition.
Contaminants are substances that are present in an environment in amounts greater than normal. They may be harmful to humans, animals or plants, or they may interfere with the function of ecosystems. Contaminants can come from natural sources (such as radon gas) or from human activities such as industrial activity or mining.
There are three types of remediation: permanent, short-term and emergency.
Permanent Remediation
Permanent remediation involves cleaning up a site so that it no longer poses an environmental threat. This type of remediation is often used for Superfund sites, which are often former industrial or commercial properties that were contaminated by hazardous materials.
Short-Term Remediation
Short-term remediation is used when there’s an immediate health risk at a site, such as at a former gas station where gasoline was leaking into the groundwater. In this case, the goal is to contain the contamination before it gets into drinking water supplies or other bodies of water. In some cases, you may even decide to remove soil from the area and replace it with clean fill dirt until long-term solutions can be found.
Emergency Remediation
Emergency remediation happens when there’s an immediate threat to public health or safety from contamination at a site — for example, if there’s a chemical spill that could contaminate nearby bodies of water or if there’s asbestos in your building’s insulation that needs to be removed as soon as possible so it doesn’t become airborne and cause lung cancer.
Environmental contamination can occur accidentally when toxic chemicals leak into the water supply, for example, or intentionally when people dump unwanted chemicals onto vacant land. When contaminants enter the environment, they can affect wildlife directly or indirectly through runoff into rivers and lakes or through leaching into groundwater supplies.
Environmental contamination can have a range of negative effects on ecosystems and humans alike:
- It can cause health problems such as cancer in humans who consume contaminated food products or drink contaminated water;
- It can cause birth defects in wildlife species;
- It can kill off wildlife populations by destroying habitat areas;
- It can impair natural resources such as fisheries and forests by damaging habitats
There are many different types of environmental remediation services, including:
Environmental Remediation Services
Environmental Consultant Edmonton, provide a complete range of environmental remediation services for residential, commercial and industrial clients in Edmonton and across Canada. Our company has extensive experience serving clients in the oil and gas industry, as well as municipal, federal and provincial governments. We are committed to providing our clients with high-quality services at competitive rates.
Contaminated soil removal –
Removing soil from a site where there has been contamination from toxic chemicals or petroleum products can help prevent further damage to the environment and public health. Removing contaminants also helps reduce risks for people who live near the site.
Asbestos abatement –
This type of remediation deals with removing asbestos-containing building materials such as floor tiles and insulation before they become airborne during construction activities.
Sewage removal –
Sewage that contains pathogens such as bacteria and viruses needs to be removed from homes and businesses because it can cause serious illness if it enters drinking water sources like rivers, lakes and streams through septic systems or wastewater treatment facilities like wastewater lagoons or dry wells.
Conclusion
Environmental remediation refers to the process of cleaning up contaminated sites and restoring them to their original condition. This can involve a range of activities, from removing toxic materials to soil excavation and disposal of any remaining contaminants.
