The course aims to illustrate the technical-scientific fundamentals on the characterization, risk assessment, and remediation of contaminated sites (industrial sites and uncontrolled landfills and waste dumps).

Framing the problem of contaminated sites: laws and regulations, types of sites (potentially and actually contaminated), inventories (at European, National, and Regional levels).

Fate and transport of contaminants in soil-subsoil and related environmental media (air, groundwater, surface water, waste, and sediments).

Epidemiology and toxicology.

Soil and groundwater quality criteria for contaminated sites: the limit value criterion, the absolute risk assessment, and the comparative (or relative) risk assessment.

Passive contaminant control systems for contaminated sites: surface capping, vertical barriers, and bottom liners.

Active groundwater control systems for contaminated sites.

Remediation technologies for contaminated sites: in situ and ex-situ (on-site, off-site), biological, physico-chemical, and thermal methods.

Proposal and application of a regional methodology of comparative risk assessment  developed with initial attention to the context of potentially contaminated sites in the Marche Region (Central Italy, Adriatic Sea side).

Representative computation practices on the absolute risk assessment for contaminated sites.

Representative design practices on control systems and remediation interventions for contaminated sites. 

Knowledge and understanding skills. The student will need to know the basic, scientific principles (chemical, geochemical, geopedological, hydrogeological, microbiological, engineering)  functional to the comprehension of the soil and groundwater quality criteria, the (absolute and comparative) risk assessment, and the remediation (containment and treatment) approaches for contaminated sites.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. The student must be able to understand the concepts of the soil and groundwater quality criteria and the (geological-hydrological, biological, physicochemical, thermal) processes involved in the planning and implementation of the containment and treatment approaches for contaminated soil and groundwater.

Judgment autonomy. The student must be able to make the right decisions on how to address a problem of performing a site-specific absolute risk assessment, setting a priority list of potentially contaminated sites (based on the comparative risk assessment approach), or selecting, preliminarly planning, implementing, and eventually monitoring a containment or treatment method in a contaminated site.

Communicative Skills. The student must be able to clearly describe a risk assessment or remediation plan for (potentially) contaminated sites with appropriate technical-scientific terms and pertaining examples.

Learning ability. The student's scientific growth finalized to deepen the study must be critical and autonomous by using the material provided by the teacher and the self-recruited material.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Possible thematic seminars from outside speakers.

Teaching

Lectures and calculation practices.

Course books

• LaGrega M.D., Buckingham P.L., Evans J.C., Hazardous Waste management, McGraw-Hill Series in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2001.

• Sunahara G.I., Renoux A.Y., Thellen C., Gaudet C.L., Pilon A. (Eds.), Environmental Analysis of Contaminated Sites, Ecological & Environmental Toxicology Series,  John Wiley and Sons, 2002.

Assessment

The assessment of learning requires an oral test to verify the student's preparation to address thematic issues regarding the risk assessment and/or remediation of contaminated sites.

The assessment will be articulated according to the following criteria: knowledge of the concepts; knowledge of techniques and procedures; application of techniques and procedures; mastery of the specific language; critical exercise. On each of these criteria the evaluation may be insufficient, sufficient, good or excellent. 

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

The same of attending students

Course books

• LaGrega M.D., Buckingham P.L., Evans J.C., Hazardous Waste management, McGraw-Hill Series in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2001.

• Sunahara G.I., Renoux A.Y., Thellen C., Gaudet C.L., Pilon A. (Eds.), Environmental Analysis of Contaminated Sites, Ecological & Environmental Toxicology Series,  John Wiley and Sons, 2002.

Assessment

The assessment of learning requires an oral test to verify the student's preparation to address thematic issues regarding the risk assessment and/or remediation of contaminated sites.

The assessment will be articulated according to the following criteria: knowledge of the concepts; knowledge of techniques and procedures; application of techniques and procedures; mastery of the specific language; critical exercise and problematization. On each of these criteria the evaluation may be insufficient, sufficient, good or excellent. 

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.