Science and Innovation
Environmental Stewardship - Groundwater and Soil Remediation

SRNL directly supports treatment and remediation of contaminated groundwater and soil, with emphasis upon matching effective and efficient solutions to site-specific conditions.

SRNL manages and operates the EM Center for Sustainable Groundwater and Soil Solutions, which provides technical consultation to DOE sites as well as private and public organizations across the country on soil and groundwater remediation. SRNL developed at SRS Monitored Natural Attenuation and Enhanced Attenuation methods for remediating contaminated groundwater that require less energy and cost than conventional methods and has adapted those improved methods to sites throughout the DOE Complex.

SRNL chairs the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM), a software project that aims at developing next-generation, science-based reactive flow and transport simulation capabilities and supporting modeling toolsets within a high-performance computing framework to address DOE-EM’s waste storage and environmental clean-up challenges.

Associated SRNL competencies and capabilities include:

Characterization of Contaminant Transport in Groundwater

• Extensive experience with dynamics of contamination in surface water systems as well as at groundwater/surface water interface (hypoheic zone)
• Developed innovative direct push characterization methods for metals, radionuclides, and organics

Environmental Monitoring

• Pioneers of cost-effective long-term monitoring strategies based on “early warning” indicators of plume advancement
• Development and deployment of innovative characterization tools

Technologies for Mitigating Contaminant Movement

• Successful closure of 399 of 515 sites using innovative and traditional technologies
• Pioneered development and deployment of passive geochemical and biological remediation and enhanced attenuation strategies
• Deployed innovative subsurface barriers for hydraulic control and in-situ treatment

Soil Remediation

• Deployment of soil mixing/blending with application of innovative amendments to minimize contaminant mobility
• Vadose biological substrate for bioremediation

Risk and Decision Analysis for Remediation

• Leader in applied radioecological research