Remediation of contaminated sites

Duration

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

Number of credits

Lecturer

Serge Brouyère

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

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 (as much as possible with invited speakers). Lecture 7 focuses on procedures for risk assessment (health, ecosystems, water resources) related to the soil / groundwater pollution and on general aspects of in situ remediation technologies. Lectures 8 to 10 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 (lecture 11).
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.
Subject to being able to identify interesting sites to visit and subject to favourable changes in sanitary conditions, 2 field visits will be organised to discover the reality of a contaminated site.
Webinars and external speakers (as much as possible)

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

The course is given in English.
In principle the course will be completely face-to-face but with possible adaptations taking into account the covid-19 sanitary context and the possible limitation of the number of students in the classroom.
However, the way in which the course is delivered will be discussed with the students during the first session.
For example, in order to reduce the amount of time spent in the classroom and to devote a significant part of it to practical work, the PowerPoint presentations used during each session will be made available to students in read-only mode, accompanied by pages of comments where an attempt will be made to transcribe all the explanations that will / would be given in the classroom.
It will be possible to organise shorter theoretical sessions, based for example on questions and answers based on a preliminary reading of the day's course by the students.

Organisational adjustments related to the current health context

Yellow and orange codes :
Classes given face to face.
Practical exercises: live explanations + debriefing sessions.
Exam: face to face (oral)
Code Red :
Course given live by videoconference.
Practical exercises: live explanations by videoconference + debriefing sessions.
Exam: Powerpoint presentation via videoconference.
 
In both cases, the course will be recorded and made available to students if no technical problems occur.
Field visits: may be cancelled or postponed (2nd semester?). If possible replaced by one or more online or face-to-face seminars (to be confirmed).

Recommended or required readings

Powerpoint presentations used during each session will be made available to students in read-only mode, accompanied by commentary pages (pdf) where an attempt will be made to transcribe all the explanations that will / would be given in the classroom.
Reference books + web resources.

Assessment methods and criteria

Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.

The course is evaluated on the basis of the work and an oral examination based on a presentation (electronic medium such as powerpoint) of the work and questions related to this work and the material seen in the course.
The work consists of investigating a real polluted site on the basis of available data. The work is carried out by groups of 3 or 4 students and is the subject of a report which will be marked. Each student prepares a presentation of the results of the work in a powerpoint format which she/he presents individually during the oral exam.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Contacts

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