10 ways to accelerate cleanups

Es­tab­lish SMART remedial action ob­jec­tives—specific, measurable, at­tain­able, relevant, and time bound. You may need to discuss al­ter­na­tive end points (examples include risk-based re­me­di­a­tion to meet 95 percent upper confidence levels, rather than point-by-point re­me­di­a­tion). Develop and obtain buy-in for a clear exit strategy.

Take ad­van­tage of avail­able in­for­ma­tion and tools to analyze data, evaluate remedial tech­nolo­gies, and inform designs and op­ti­miza­tion. Apply high-res­o­lu­tion in­ves­ti­ga­tion tech­niques, on-line modeling, and green and sus­tain­able eval­u­a­tion guidance. Use these re­sources to estimate time­frames and removal ef­fec­tive­ness of various tech­nolo­gies rather than design or operate within a vacuum. Keeping up with the latest advances may ul­ti­mately save time and money.

Sub­sur­face con­di­tions are veiled and dynamic. Plan flexibility into your remedy ac­cord­ingly to allow you to ef­fec­tively adapt to changing con­di­tions. In­cor­po­rate combined remedies into planning doc­u­ments to address dif­fer­ent areas of the site and to provide flexibility to quickly move from one remedy to another as conditions change. Rent systems rather than purchase them, or order pre-packaged systems.

Some quick remedies, such as ex­ca­va­tion or chemical ox­i­da­tion, leave residual con­t­a­m­i­na­tion that can delay site closure. Sus­tain­able remedies, in­clud­ing per­me­able reactive barriers, enhanced biore­me­di­a­tion, and mon­i­tored natural at­ten­u­a­tion, may play a role in ad­dress­ing long-term residual con­t­a­m­i­na­tion at the site, even while allowing site closure and property transfer to proceed.

Ask both the prob­a­bil­ity and impact of each outcome; if the com­bi­na­tion is sufficiently high, develop a mitigation plan. If not, proceed.