Remediation efforts are required in many circumstances. Personal property may have been damaged by flood or fire and new construction cannot begin until the remediation services are complete. Natural disasters and corporate undertakings such as mining and fracking may require clean up efforts that include remediation. New remediation technologies have been reviewed and endorsed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Here is a brief synopsis of the most frequently used remediation technologies.

Since early 2018, this emerging remedial technology has been used in situ remediation of soil and groundwater recovery efforts. When either soil or groundwater have been contaminated by organic particles, this method is an effective treatment. The general process is twofold: activated carbon absorbs organic contaminants and they are then destroyed by appropriate chemical and sometimes biological additives. The process has shown great success with chlorinated solvents and petroleum hydrocarbons. Continued testing is underway to determine if these methods could be effective in limited nuclear contamination conditions.

This proven remediation technology is often used in conjunction with a sister method - bioremediation with compost. Trial conducted on soils contaminated with hydrocarbons and heavy metals proved that this method, or a combination using this method was effective. Contamination levels were quickly contained and drastically reduced by the zero-valent iron nanoparticles. When coupled with the organic composting materials, the cleanup was even more complete and fast acting. While this method has been predominately tested with soil samples, and on a large scale, the effectiveness has not been adequately tested under other conditions. Additional testing is required to determine the usefulness in groundwater contamination and situations involving secondary contamination.

The introduction of new remediation technologies involving the use of biological and organic matter is still facing controversy. EPA guidelines are not only in favor of using organic methods, they have launched a full green remediation campaign. There is virtually no risk of cross contamination or secondary contamination when organic methods are used in the remediation process. The addition of new remediation technologies are likely to focus on this line of organic biological methods. Similar to natural biodegradability scales, these remediation techniques offer a fully natural method of combating natural and man made disasters.