Containment of polluted sites

Remediation techniques are generally classified into four broad categories. These include off-site, on-site and in-situ treatment techniques –, which include physico-chemical, thermal and biological processes – and containment.

Containment stops the underground migration of pollutants that may be carried along :

• in pure form due to the movement of groundwater under the action of a hydraulic gradient (e.g. in the case of immiscible light organic products);

• in dissolved form, in the case of leaching from an area polluted by groundwater (mainly metals or inorganics);

• in one of these two forms, by leaching from a polluted area caused by the infiltration of meteoric water into the soil.

This technique can therefore be applied to the problem of polluted slicks, where the aim is to control the pollutant propagation vector.

This dossier is based on the reference document "Containment procedures applied to polluted sites" published in 1999 (see ).