Government Accountability Office (GAO-05-666)
June, 2005
GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION
DOD Uses and Develops a Range of Remediation Technologies to Clean Up Military Sites
DOD has implemented or field-tested all of the 15 types of generally accepted technologies currently available to remediate contaminated groundwater, including several alternatives to pump-and-treat technologies. Some of these technologies, such as bioremediation, introduce nutrients or other materials into the subsurface to stimulate microorganisms in the soil; these microorganisms consume the contaminant or produce byproducts that help break down contaminants into nontoxic or less-hazardous materials. DOD selects the most suitable technology for a given site on the basis of several factors, such as the type of contaminant and location in the subsurface, and the relative cost-effectiveness of a technology for a given site. DOD has identified a number of contaminants of concern at its facilities, each of which varies in its susceptibility to treatment. The table below shows the technologies DOD used to remediate contaminated groundwater.
GAO did not identify any alternative groundwater remediation technologies being used or developed outside DOD that the department has not considered or used. Most of the new approaches developed by commercial vendors and available to DOD generally use novel materials applied to contaminated sites with existing technologies. DOD actively researches and tests new approaches to groundwater remediation largely by developing and promoting the acceptance of innovative remediation technologies. For example, DOD’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program supports public and private research on contaminants of concern to DOD and innovative methods for their treatment.
