Site Contaminated Due To Armaments
According to the definition of the German Federal Government, military hazardous waste involves "contamination of ground, water and air by chemicals deriving from conventional and chemical warfare agents". Military hazardous waste in Germany originates both from military activity on sites prior to and during the Second World War and the military use of large areas after 1945.
Because of the complex nature of military hazardous waste, the detection, investigation, evaluation and subsequent decontamination of ground and groundwater affected by these pollutants are extremely difficult. The main pollutants encountered at sites used for the production and processing of warfare agents include trinitrotoluene (TNT) - also known as trinitromethylbenzene - and its chemical precursors, intermediate and by-products. These compounds are especially hazardous because they are readily absorbed by the body, while microorganisms can only degrade them with difficulty, if at all, because they are not naturally occurring substances. Work has been on-going for many years to secure and decontaminate affected sites so that they can be made available over the long term for civilian use.
In general, thermal or microbiological techniques are used to treat contaminated ground. Activated charcoal is frequently used to decontaminate groundwater.
The sample projects presented on this internet platform show the spectrum of research and development concepts, including:
• the use of fungi in the decontamination of ground polluted with TNT,
• microbial degradation of the explosives hexyl and hexogen in ground and water,
• the purification of groundwater contaminated with explosive substances using a macroporous polymer extraction process and
• a combined technique for the physical, chemical and biological decontamination of groundwater polluted with nitrotoluenes.
Compilation and evaluation of research and redevelopment projects on practical application of land management and land revitalisation
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Composting of abandoned military sites using white rot fungi: Balancing of contaminants and quality of decontaminated soil
Compounds typically found in explosives – the self-cleaning potential of contaminated soils and aquifers
In-situ filter regeneration for the removal of TNT from groundwater: application of process to an activated carbon fibre adsorber
Model decontamination of contaminated sites, based upon the Stadallendorf/Hesse TNT decontamination project (MOSAL)
Principles of a process for the decontamination of hexogen/hexyl-contaminated groundwater and surface water from abandoned military sites using fungi
Prognosis for the in-situ transformation of typical explosive compounds with the aim of estimating the risks and minimising the decontamination measures at the WASAG Elsnig site.
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