Title: CONSIDERATION OF NATURAL ATTENUATION IN REMEDIATING CONTAMINATED SITES 
Resource Type: document --> guidance / decision support 
Country: Germany 
Language(s): English
German
 
Year: 2011 
Availability: Position paper for the administrative and technical execution of NA in Germany 
Author 1/Producer: FEDERAL / STATE WORKING GROUP ON SOIL PROTECTION – LABO CONTAMINATED SITE COMMITTEE – ALA AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE “NATURAL ATTENUATION” 
Other Authors/Producers: Umweltbundesamt Dessau-Rosslau 
Author / Producer Type: Agency, regulator or other governmental or inter-governmental body 
Publisher: Umweltbundesamt Dessau-Rosslau 
Publisher City: Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) Wörlitzer Platz 1 06844 Dessau-Roßlau Phone: 0340 / 2103-0 
Report / download web link (=direct link): http://www.umweltdaten.de/publikationen/fpdf-l/4131.pdf  
Format (e.g. PDF): PDF 
Size: (e.g. 20mb) 0.8 
EUGRIS Keyword(s): Contaminated land-->Contaminated land overview
Groundwater protection-->Groundwater protection overview
Soil-->Soil Overview
 
Short description: UBA has translated into English a position paper of the Federal/State Working Group on Soil Protection about the consideration of natural attenuation in remediating contaminated sites. The position paper details the knowledge and approaches existing in Germany and provides practical recommendations. 
Long description: Upon the proposal submitted by its Standing Committee 5 (Contaminated Sites Committee – ALA) the Federal/ State Working Group on Soil Protection (LABO) employed an ad hoc subcommittee dealing with considering natural attenuation in remediating contaminated sites and preparing an inter-State position paper. It involves: • a definition of the terms NA, MNA and ENA • a consideration of the legal problems in connection with including them in the remediation of contaminated sites, • the prerequisites for implementing a MNA concept and • a recommendation relating to approaches to be adopted in practice. The position paper is restricted to a consideration of natural attenuation in the saturated zone containing information on groundwater damage caused by contaminated sites. In this paper the following terms are used and defined: • Natural attenuation processes are biological, chemical and physical processes without human intervention resulting in a reduction of the mass, load, toxicity, mobility, volume or the concentration of a contaminant in soil or groundwater. These processes involve biological degradation, chemical transformation, sorption, dispersion, diffusion and evaporation of contaminants. Natural attenuation (NA) is the result of natural attenuation processes. • Monitored natural attenuation (MNA) are monitoring measures for controlling the effectiveness of natural attenuation processes. • Enhanced natural attenuation (ENA) is considered to be an in situ remediation measure because by initiating, stimulating and supporting natural attenuation processes with the input of substances using the natural reaction space the process is actively intervened. The short term “MNA concept” is introduced to enable the authorities to decide to not envisage remediation measures in connection with MNA with regard to natural attenuation and its appropriateness. A MNA concept contains basically the following components of a regulation: a) fixing of verifiable targets in time and space based on prediction considered as the necessary result of the natural attenuation processes and of intermediate results for the time up to reaching the fixed terminal state, b) fixing of monitoring measures for checking the effectiveness of natural attenuation processes (MNA) and of obligations to reporting, c) reservation of further measures if the prediction would prove to be inapplicable up to reaching the fixed terminal state. 
Submitted By: Mr Jörg Frauenstein WhoDoesWhat?      Last update: 11/07/2011

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