Pollution of soils and waters by human activities is an important and widespread problem. This pollution by, organic and inorganic substances can affect individual organisms, human populations, and ecosystems, each in its own unique way. In particular former military installations, often used for weapons production and nuclear power plants represent a ongoing and substantial threat to environment and human health because of the specific pollutants that can be released: Solvents, explosives, fuels, radionuclides, heavy metals, and metalloids all have been identified in the environment around these installations. Remediation technologies for these contaminated sites have been developed based on conventional systems utilising physical and chemical treatments, such as excavation and incineration, pump-and-treat methods, ultraviolet oxidation, soil washing, etc. These approaches are usually very expensive, and can involve the removal of large amounts of soil or water, which often leads to resources depletion and limitation in the future utilisation of the site. Recently, new decontamination approaches, based on living organisms, in particular micro-organisms and plants, have been researched and developed as a more sustainable alternative because they have lower costs, reduced environmental impacts, and increased public acceptance. Development of biological decontamination techniques has been carried out in several laboratories and research institutions worldwide, and practical applications on contaminated sites have been recorded in several countries. In the USA and Canada several commercial companies have been utilizing these approaches for years, alongside conventional techniques, with great success:; a good examples can be found is in the U. S.

A monograph born out of a unique combination of expertise and practical advice Twelve authors with first-hand experience in biological decontamination Authors combine theory and practice in specific contamination examples Ideal for operators in the field of decontamination

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Site Characterisation.- METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL SITE INVESTIGATIONS OF LARGE INDUSTRIAL SITES IN ORDER TO OBTAIN OPTIMAL COST/BENEFIT RATIOS: CASE STUDY OF THE ISAB ERG PETROLI REFINERY AT PRIOLO GARGALLO (SR), ITALY.- RADIATION CONTAMINATION OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS INVESTIGATION: FIELD EXPERIMENTS, MODELING AND SIMULATION.- RISK ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION OF MILITARY AND AMMUNITION SITES.- Biological Bases of Biological Remediation.- MICROBIAL SYSTEMS FOR IN-SITU SOIL AND GROUNDWATER REMEDIATION.- PLANT TAXONOMY FOR PHYTOREMEDIATION.- GENETIC VARIABILITY AND GENETIC ENGINEERING IN PHYTOREMEDIATION.- Feasibility Studies and Practical Implementation.- DECHLORINATION OF CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS BY ZERO-VALENT IRON NANO-PARTICLES.- REMEDIATION ALTERNATIVES ON HIGH TOXICITY AND DANGEROUS SITES.- FROM LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS TO LARGE SCALE APPLICATION AN EXAMPLE OF THE PHYTOREMEDIATION OF RADIONUCLIDES.- PHYTOREMEDIATION SOME CASE STUDIES CONDUCTED AT WAU.- MANAGEMENT OF PASSIVE BIOLOGICAL WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS FOR MINE EFFLUENTS.- LESSONS FROM THE WASTEWATER FIELD.- PHYTOREMEDIATION OF EXPLOSIVES.- Regulatory Issues.- GERMAN LAW FOR THE PREVENTION, IDENTIFICATION, INVESTIGATION, RISK ASSESSMENT AND REMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SITES AND HARMFUL SOIL CHANGES.- THE MAIN DIRECTIONS OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND CCMS NATO WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF NRC CCMS.