LTR - Ep 72 - What Is Environmental Remediation and What's It's Purpose?

Uh, the topic for today, I wanted to zoom out, uh, and, and become real broad and general, uh, as to what this entire podcast, Let's Talk Remediation, is about.

It is about environmental remediation.

So today's topic is: What is environmental remediation, and what is its purpose? So environmental remediation.

Environmental remediation is the process of removing or treating or containing pollution or contaminants or hazardous substances or contaminants, uh, toxic materials, um, from our environment, such as, uh, soil or water, groundwater, surface water, uh, or, uh, the soil beneath the water, uh, in sediment, uh, or, uh, you know, beach sand.

Um, e- and as far as water goes, it could be surface water, groundwater, drinking water, um, all to protect human health and our environment, because if not remediated, these toxic and hazardous pollutants and contaminants or ha-- They are not good for human health and our environment.

So they are toxic.

They are bad for us.

They make us sick.

They can, uh, give us disease and cancer, and they spread throughout our environment by lots of different means.

And so environmental remediation is the process of doing something about it, right? It's either removing it or treating it or temporarily containing it, uh, in place.

Uh, it's the removal or dealing with the treatment of these toxic substances, these pollutants, these contaminants, right? So again, the main purpose for doing this remediation is to protect our health.

You know, not only human health, but our environment's health.

Safeguard public safety.

Um, restore the environment in which the pollution or contaminant is in back to, uh, its state before it was polluted.

Uh, so repair the ecological damage that's taken place.

Um, if you have, uh, y- you know, industrial pollution to restore that area where that pollution is back to, you know, either a safe environment or a, a more usable condition where it's not so toxic and contaminated, right? So what, what, what are these contaminants that we're talking about? You know, um, you know, our, our world, we, we revolve around petroleum hydrocarbons, right? E-everything that we use is derived from petroleum products or hydrocarbons, right? Um, uh, uh, not just the typical contaminant, which is either a crude oil or a motor oil or a fuel of some type.

Those are the most common things.

But in the creation of just about everything around us is derived from petroleum, which is crude oil, right? So tho- that is the most common contaminant.

But in addition to petroleum hydrocarbons and all the derivatives therefrom, um, heavy metals from, uh, the industrial industry and creating other things.

You know, you have heavy metals that are the byproducts of things, you know.

But Some of those, those metals are toxic, like lead and mercury.

Um, these, these are not good for our environment.

So these heavy metals are also a contaminant of concern.

As well as just, you know, other types of solvents that are used in the industrial industry, and pesticides used in, in, uh, our agricultural, um, not just agricultural, but also in our residential areas.

Pesticides, uh, are, are a pollutant or a contaminant.

Uh, the topic for today, I wanted to zoom out, uh, and, and become real broad and general, uh, as to what this entire podcast, Let's Talk Remediation, is about.

It is about environmental remediation.

So today's topic is: What is environmental remediation, and what is its purpose? So environmental remediation.

Environmental remediation is the process of removing or treating or containing pollution or contaminants or hazardous substances or contaminants, uh, toxic materials, um, from our environment, such as, uh, soil or water, groundwater, surface water, uh, or, uh, the soil beneath the water, uh, in sediment, uh, or, uh, you know, beach sand.

Um, e- and as far as water goes, it could be surface water, groundwater, drinking water, um, all to protect human health and our environment, because if not remediated, these toxic and hazardous pollutants and contaminants or ha-- They are not good for human health and our environment.

So they are toxic.

They are bad for us.

They make us sick.

They can, uh, give us disease and cancer, and they spread throughout our environment by lots of different means.

And so environmental remediation is the process of doing something about it, right? It's either removing it or treating it or temporarily containing it, uh, in place.

Uh, it's the removal or dealing with the treatment of these toxic substances, these pollutants, these contaminants, right? So again, the main purpose for doing this remediation is to protect our health.

You know, not only human health, but our environment's health.

Safeguard public safety.

Um, restore the environment in which the pollution or contaminant is in back to, uh, its state before it was polluted.

Uh, so repair the ecological damage that's taken place.

Um, if you have, uh, y- you know, industrial pollution to restore that area where that pollution is back to, you know, either a safe environment or a, a more usable condition where it's not so toxic and contaminated, right? So what, what, what are these contaminants that we're talking about? You know, um, you know, our, our world, we, we revolve around petroleum hydrocarbons, right? E-everything that we use is derived from petroleum products or hydrocarbons, right? Um, uh, uh, not just the typical contaminant, which is either a crude oil or a motor oil or a fuel of some type.

Those are the most common things.

But in the creation of just about everything around us is derived from petroleum, which is crude oil, right? So tho- that is the most common contaminant.

But in addition to petroleum hydrocarbons and all the derivatives therefrom, um, heavy metals from, uh, the industrial industry and creating other things.

You know, you have heavy metals that are the byproducts of things, you know.

But Some of those, those metals are toxic, like lead and mercury.

Um, these, these are not good for our environment.

So these heavy metals are also a contaminant of concern.

As well as just, you know, other types of solvents that are used in the industrial industry, and pesticides used in, in, uh, our agricultural, um, not just agricultural, but also in our residential areas.

Pesticides, uh, are, are a pollutant or a contaminant.