Abstract |
The Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established the Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS) in 1969. CCMS was charged with developing meaningful programs to share information among countries on environmental and societal issues that complement other international endeavors and to provide leadership in solving specific problems of the human environment. A fundamental precept of CCMS involves the transfer of technological and scientific solutions among nations with similar environmental challenges. The management of contaminated land and groundwater is a universal problem among industrialized countries, requiring the use of existing, emerging, innovative, and cost-effective technologies. This document reports on the second meeting of the Phase III Pilot Study on the Evaluation of Demonstrated and Emerging Technologies for the Treatment and Clean Up of Contaminated Land and Groundwater. The United States is the lead country for the Pilot Study, and Germany and The Netherlands are the Co-Pilot countries. The first phase successfully concluded in 1991, and the results were published in three volumes. The second phase, which expanded to include newly emerging technologies, concluded in 1997; final reports documenting 52 completed projects and the participation of 14 countries were published in June 1998. Through these pilot studies, critical technical information was made available to participating countries and the world community. The Phase III study focuses on the technologies for treating contaminated land and groundwater. This Phase is addressing issues of sustainability, environmental merit, and cost-effectiveness, in addition to continued emphasis on emerging remediation technologies. The objectives of the study are to critically evaluate technologies, promote the appropriate use of technologies, use information technology systems to disseminate the products, and to foster innovative thinking in the area of contaminated land. |