The Best Soil Remediation Tools Available: Prevention, awareness, and innovation.

• Author: Mottl, Judy
• Position: ENVIRONMENTAL

Of about 7,600 contaminated sites in Alaska, some 70 percent have been cleaned up with 2,300 remaining that require additional remediation.

The bulk of those sites, about 73 percent, are contaminated by petroleum, the most common toxic matter in land-based spills statewide, according to Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials and remediation specialists.

"We are in a much better place [with regard to land-based spills] than we were back in March 1989," says Graham Wood, program manager of the DEC's Prevention Preparedness and Response Program, which was launched following the Valdez oil spill in 1989.

"The state was in a position where it thought it had things under control [in terms of spill response and prevention] and it clearly didn't. So out of that came what we have today with our response regulations," he says. "We've been making steady progress in the world of prevention."

His view is echoed by environmental geologist Tim Shaw, who works for Environmental Contracting Solutions (ECS), a Kodiak-based company that provides an array of remediation-related services including site investigation, spill response, and soil remediation.

"Having been in the environmental services and consulting field for over twenty-seven years, I have seen an increase in prevention plans, strategies, and contingencies for spills," says Shaw.

"In my opinion, much of this is self-induced by the companies to lower their risks. There is sufficient history now that most companies have seen what the high financial costs and long-term environmental impacts can be from poor environmental controls. Also, the older generation which did things the old way have retired or passed on. The newer generations are more environmentally savvy."

Spill Prevention, Quick Response

Some of that savviness may be the result of state outreach and education efforts to teach companies how to prevent land-based spills. Program leaders meet with businesses and communities about prevention strategies as well as federal agency counterparts to talk about spill reporting notification requirements and basic prevention actions, such as a tank farm having transfer procedures in place, an incident plan on hand, and remaining onsite during a transfer activity.

DEC encourages new businesses dealing with oil, gas, and chemicals to communicate with the organization about remediation plans and prevention strategies.

"We're always happy to talk to companies about how best to...