Comparison Chart
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VeruTEK Green Nanotechnology

Conceived of in 2005, to provide a solution where all others have failed. Initially designed for coal tar and subsequently expanded for organic contaminants of all types.

Effectiveness: A complete remedy! Works for NAPL, such as coal tar and chlorinated solvents, VOCs, SVOCs, THP, TICs, Pesticides, Herbicides, and PCBs. Surfactant-Enhanced In Situ Chemical Oxidation (S-ISCO™) is the only remedy that is effective. Safe clean up of contaminants in soils and groundwater beneath buildings without having to move structures or residents. Cost effective and does not generate waste. Green Technology- FDA GRAS. VeruTEK's ability to match the fate, transport and reactions of the green cosolvents and surfactants with the activity of free-radical based chemical oxidants results in a complete remedy.

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Compare to:

Excavation/Landfilling

Earliest form of remediation to move contaminated wastes and soils from one location and transport to another. Method digs up surface contaminated soil and removes it to landfills-sometimes thousands of miles away and sometimes to landfills in nearby communities.

Effectiveness: Not a complete remedy. Frequently limited to soils and wastes above the water table. If excavating below the water table leaves residual contamination that continues to contaminate the groundwater, particularly if NAPLs are present. Significant limits associated with structures and utilities. Method increases exposure of community to air contamination. Not sustainable; energy intensive, high carbon footprint. Permanent destruction of geologic and geotechnical strength. Post excavation groundwater impacts are rarely monitored. Removes contamination to landfill where problem may continue. Landfills have finite service life…then what? Perceived as a complete remedy when, in fact, it is not. Not a permanent remedy. Myth is that it is the lowest cost alternative, when true life cycle costs are not included. Not worthy of a society that has produced computer chips, cloning, and gone to the moon.

Pump and Treat

Invented: 1960s/1970s for this application. Extract water and treat it.

Effectiveness: Not effective. Expensive. High operational and monitoring costs. Recurring revenue for consultants. Real use is for partial hydraulic control, however effectiveness is difficult and expensive to monitor. Generally allows movement of contaminated groundwater offsite without remedying any source material. Leaves contamination in place for future generations. Requires discharge of frequently incompletely treated groundwater to surface water. Study after study has shown it to be an ineffective temporary band-aid.

Containment

Invented: 1960s/1970s for materials that were not readily excavated.

Effectiveness: Not a complete remedy. Frequently only treats part of the soil problem. Significant limits associated with structures and utilities. Developed for metals and radioactive wastes. Largely ineffective in the presence of NAPLs. Misconceived as a permanent remedy when in fact, designed with finite service period. Significant limits associated with structures and utilities. Difficult to monitor success. Frequently generates large volumes of contaminated wastes that require treatment and landfilling. Major issue is that contamination is left in place for future generations to deal with the inevitable release of contaminants. Future source treatment is still required. Frequently a high carbon footprint and not a sustainable technology.

Soil Vapor Extraction

Invented: Early 1980s. Extraction of vapor phase with the hope of reducing source material.

Effectiveness: Not completely effective. Can be used for extracting gasoline constituents and other highly volatile organic compounds in the unsaturated zone above the capillary zone. Does not work in groundwater and smear zone, typically where the biggest threat for groundwater contamination exists. Has been effectively used to minimize soil vapor intrusion into structures. Does not work for lower volatile contaminants. Is extremely sensitive to soil heterogeneity, leaving partially treated soils in the unsaturated zone.

In Situ Chemical Oxidation

Invented: 1980s with the hope to destroy in place NAPLs, sorbed contaminants and contaminated groundwater.

Effectiveness: Not an effective remedy for sorbed and NAPL phases, yet continually misapplied for these purposes. Confusion is widespread over the complex science of ISCO. Without remediation of sorbed and NAPL phases, groundwater cannot be cleaned up, except for low-sorbing organic species. Does not treat the soil and NAPL source material. Frequently not assessed adequately in laboratory studies. Frequently under-dosed in the field and not adequately monitored resulting in short term reduction of groundwater contamination almost always shown to have long-term rebound. Multiple injections do not remedy the problem, only verify that it is an incomplete treatment of sorbed and NAPL species.

Risk Assessment

Invented: 1980s to direct remediation. Has been since used in many cases to improperly to "risk away" contamination. Gives the community a sense that threat is less than is truly there. Will be the source of future litigation.

Effectiveness: Not effective. Conclusions from risk assessment are based on incomplete knowledge of the toxicology of a limited set of contaminants with a poor understanding of fate and transport. The effects on humans of thousands of contaminants are not known. Leaves contamination in place with no effective mitigation. Will require fu ture generations to clean up. Meantime, it provides a rationale for exposing communities to unnecessary levels of contamination.

Natural Attenuation

Physical, chemical and biological processes that may take place in the groundwater at some sites. Name invented in the 1980s.

Effectiveness: Not a remediation technology. For many sites, another word for dilution. Unfortunately used as a low-cost alternative to actually cleaning up contaminated sites. Natural attenuation processes have been operable at many sites for decades or more, with serious contamination and public health and ecological systems exposure and impacts. Can complement source zone treatment at many sites, but frequently a cover for doing nothing. Often used with Risk Assessment techniques.

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