Remediation of contaminated sites

Duration

24h Th, 24h Pr, 2d FW, 40h Proj.

Number of credits

Lecturer

Serge Brouyère

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

This course teaches the bases of required knwoledge and skills for a soil and groundwater remediation study, from site characterization to cleanup. The course is focused on in-situ remediation technologies (cf. course UEEN002 Urban Recycling: Land & Waste for on site and ex-situ technologies).
The course is organized in 11 lectures.
Lecture 1 describes the general context and the problematics of contaminated sites. Lectures 2 and 3 comes back to the properties and behaviour of organic (in particular non-aqueous phase liquids) and inorganic (in particular metals and inorganic trace elements) pollutants. Lectures 4 to 6 describe investigation methods for characterizing the level of contamination of soil and groundwater and its evolution with time. In particular, lecture 6 consists of a seminar where different contaminated site characterization studies are described. Lecture 7 focuses on risk assessment procedures (health, ecosystems, water resources) related to the soil / groundwater pollution. Lectures 8 to 11 describe and give tools for the main soil and groundwater cleanup technologies. According to available opportunities, some of these lectures will be given by external experts.
Two days of field trip are also planned at the agenda. If possible, they will consist in site visits with specific equipment manipulation. If site access is not available, case studies will be presented.
Lectures will be followed by exercises. In addition, a homework based on real data has to be performed by the students. This work accounts for the course evaluation.
The course uses the Walloon context as a referential (Soil decree, reference documents etc); however, the subjects taugth are generic enough to be transposed to other regions or countries.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of the course, students will have basis technical knowledge and skills for managing a contaminated site problem, from the characterization phase to cleanup project.
More specifically, students will be capable of: -developing a conceptual site model, giving a clear view of the pollution level and evolution with time, in relation with the field conditions (soil, groundwater, physical environment ...); -proposing a programme of investigation to collect data and information required to establish the level of contamination and its evolution -manipulating risk assessment tools; -making a selection of appropriate remediation options, taking into account the context established based on the characterization and on the risk assessment study;

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

It is preferable to have knowledge on "soils" and/or "groundwater/hydrogeology"
Good skills in environmental chemistry is also beneficial.
This course is in the continuation of the course GEOL0277 groundwater quality and pollution. Having attended this course is a clear advantage. However, for those who have not attended, a copy of the lectures is available (pdf). In addition, the first course describes the essential prerequisite with feedback to appropriate components of GEOL0277.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Theoretical courses and exercices based as much as possible on real data and cases.
Homework consisting on a real-life situation with a real case study, made by groups of 2 or 3 students and defended individually during the oral exam.
2 days of field trips to discover the practical aspects and the reality of contaminated sites.
Webinars and external speakers (as much as possible)

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

A priori the course will be given mainly in English (to be discussed with the students during the first course).
The slides will be available in French and English.

Recommended or required readings

Assessment methods and criteria

The course is evaluated based on the homework and an oral exam where each student has to present the homework individually (with an electronic support such as a powerpoint presentation) and questions on this homework and the course content.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Contacts

Responsible: Serge Brouyère (serge.brouyere@ulg.ac.be) Assistant: Pierre Jamn (pierre.jamin@ulg.ac.be)