Hazardous materials in the hydrologic: the role of research by the U.S. geological survey / Опасные материалы в гидрологии: роль исследований геологической службы США

This report is a product of the Committee on USGS Water Resources Research, which provides consensus advice to the Water Resources Division (WRD) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on scientific, research, and programmatic issues. The committee is one of the groups that works under the auspices of the Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB) of the National Research Council. The committee considers a variety of topics that are important scientifically and programmatically to the USGS and the nation and issues reports when appropriate. This report concerns the WRD science and technology that is relevant to hazardous materials in the soil and water environment, including the subsurface, stream and lake sediments, and surface waters. Within the USGS, this work is dispersed in a number of WRD program areas, including basic research, regional and site assessments, and data collection activities.
In the United States, a massive effort is in progress to remediate sites at which hazardous materials threaten the environment. For perspective, it has been estimated that there may be as many as 300,000 sites where soil and/or ground water may require remediation to reverse the negative impacts of past industrial, military, agricultural, and commercial activity. Estimates of the costs of this effort over the next several decades approach a trillion dollars. The science and technology carried out in the WRD, though modest in terms of investment, contributes significantly to the national effort by continually imparting new understanding about the natural processes relevant to the transport, fate, and remediation of hazardous substances in the soil and water environments. <...>