Decontaminating polluted soils - who can help?

UN/ECE PUBLISHES NEW GUIDE

Contamination of soil by chemicals has created major social and economic problems worldwide. Leaks from ageing industrial plants, uncontrolled waste disposal, or contamination as a result of engineering errors are some instances of how sites can become highly dangerous. But technologies exist today which can clean up these sites and make them perfectly usable again for economic or social purposes.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) has just published a Compendium of Soil Clean-up Technologies and Soil Remediation Companies. The Compendium is intended to help authorities to select the technology best suited to their soil contamination problems and to choose companies to carry out the clean-up.

The Compendium comprises two parts. Part I describes 19 well-established commercial soil remediation technologies, which have been grouped into two broad categories: in situ and ex situ and further classed according to the method used - chemical, physical or biological.

Part II contains a practical list of over 500 soil remediation companies, with addresses, phone and fax numbers, as well as contact persons. The 19 countries^{* /} range geographically from North America to eastern Europe.

UN/ECE will be updating the Compendium regularly to include additional countries, companies and technologies. Future editions are also expected to be available in electronic format.

The first issue of the Compendium, priced at US$ 40, can be purchased through the usual local United Nations sales agents or from the United Nations Office at Geneva, quoting Sales No. E.97.II.E.19. Further information about the Compendium can be obtained from:

*/ The first edition of the Compendium covers the following countries: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.