SEDL / STP / STP1283-EB / STP16118S

Evaluation of a Soil Contaminated Site and Clean-Up Criteria: A Geostatistical Approach

Leonte, D
Senior Environmental Scientist, McLaren Hart Environmental Engineering (Australia), North Ryde, NSW

Schofield, N
Manager, FSSI Consultants (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Eastwood, NSW

Pages: 13    Published: Jan 1996

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Abstract

A case study of soil contamination assessment and clean-up in a site proposed for residential development is presented in this paper. The contamination consists mainly of heavy metals of which lead is the most important contaminant. The site has been sampled on an approximately 25 × 25 square meter grid to between 1 and 3 meters depth to evaluate the extent of the contamination. Three hotspots were identified based on eyeballing the lead sample values and a crude contouring. A geostatistical approach is proposed to map the lead contamination and provide an alternate evaluation. The results suggest a significantly different evaluation of the area for clean-up based on the probability of the lead concentration exceeding allowable levels.