• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 1994

Groundwater and soil contamination by the leak of leachates from the waste disposal site (WDS) is one of the serious environmental problems, and leachates are generally produced by the biogeochmical decomposition and/or precipitation in the WDS. At the Sindae-dong waste disposal site in Taejon, the average Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations in the surrounding soils are higher than those in other Korean soils but these are not high enough to cause any harmful effect to man through the crop plants. Copper, Pb and Zn are not detected in the groundwater samples but the pH of the sample is 5.6 which is not suitable for the drinking water. In contaminated soil samples, the heavy metal concentrations are higher in subsurface soil than in surface soil and it may be influenced by the leachates in groundwater. With the electric resistivity method, the water contains layers are found in contaminated soils and the resistivity values are considerably low because of the dispersion of plume by the leak of leachates. According to the distance from the leak point of leachate, resistivity values increased and heavy metal concentraions in soils decreased due to the reduction of plume.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.82-87
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• 2016

This study investigates effects of an aging period on arsenic (As) chemical forms in soils and phytotoxicity using artificially As-contaminated soils with a range of As concentrations (0-300 mg/kg) and aging periods (0 and 3 months). A sequential extraction procedure showed that the increasing As concentration in soils increased the ratio of non-specifically and specifically bound As, which are known to be bioavailable. This resulted in increasing As uptake by tomatoes with increasing As concentration (R²=0.87 for exponential fitting); however, the seed germination was not sensitive to the As concentrations of the soil samples. The seed germination was also statistically similar in the soils with 75 and 150 mg-As/kg regardless of the aging period. The time taken until the seed germination (i.e., lag phase), on the other hand, decreased from 10 d to 3 d with aging for 3 months. This can be attributed to the decreased amount of bioavailable As with aging. Overall, this study shows that when the toxic effects of the As-contaminated soils are assessed using tomato plants, it is better to use more sensitive methods than seed germination such as the As accumulation or the lag phase for seed germination.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.35-44
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• 2014

In this study, the bio-phytoremediation and phytoremediation technologies were applied to the soils contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and heavy metals to evaluate the remediation efficacy from May 2012 to December 2013. Poplar (Populus bonatii Levl.) and Sun Hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) were selected and planted in phytoremediation practice. These plants were also utilized in the bio-phytoremediation practice, with the addition of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) and petroleum-degrading bacteria (Pseudomonos sp. NKNU01). Furthermore, physiological characteristics, such as photosynthesis rate and maximal photochemical yield, of all testing plants were also measured in order to assess their health conditions and tolerance levels in adverse environment. After 20 months of remedial practice, the results showed that bio-phytoremediation practice had a higher rate of TPH removal efficacy at 30-60 cm depth soil than that of phytoremediation. However, inconsistent results were discovered while analyzing the soil at 100 cm depth. The study also showed that the removal efficiency of heavy metals was lower than that of TPH after remediation treatment. The results from test field tissue sample analysis revealed that more Zinc than Chromium was absorbed and accumulated by the tested plants. Plant height measurements of Poplar and Sun Hemp showed that there were insignificant differences of growth between the plants in remediation plots and those in the control plot. Physiological data of Poplar also suggested it has higher tolerance level toward the contaminated soils. These results indicated that the two testing plants were healthy and suitable for this remediation study.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.23-30
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• 2011

Risk based pollution level of Pb and Cd in metal contaminated soils depending on physicochemical properties of soil in a target site was assessed using biotic ligand model. Heavy metal activity in soil solution defined as exposure activity (EA) was assumed to be toxic to Vibrio fischeri and soil organisms. Predicted effective activity (PEA) determined by biotic ligand model was compared to EA value to calculate risk quotient. Field contaminated soils (n = 10) were collected from a formes area and their risk based pollution levels were assessed in the present study using the calculated risk quotient. Concentrations of Pb determined by aqua regia were 295, 258, and 268 mg/kg in B, H and J points and concentrations of Cd were 4.73 and 6.36 mg/kg in G and I points, respectively. These points exceeded the current soil conservation standards. However, risk based pollution levels of the ten points were not able to be calculated because concentrations of Pb and Cd in soil solution were smaller than detection limits or one (i.e., non toxic). It was because heavy metal activity in soil solution was dominant toxicological form to organisms, not a total heavy metal concentration in soil. In addition, heavy metal toxicity was decreased by competition effect of major cations and formation of complex with dissolved organic carbon in soil solution. Therefore, it is essential to consider site-specific factors affecting bioavailability and toxicity for estimating reliable risk of Pb and Cd.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.565-571
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the tolerance of some resistant fungal strains from soils contaminated with heavy metals. Various fungal strains were isolated from soil samples collected from studied sites which heavy metals and other pollutants have been emitted in effluents for several years. Fungi isolated belong to different genera; however, Penicillium spp. showed the most frequent species. The microbial number was remarkably higher in the control soil than contaminated soil samples collected from mining areas. $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ had the highest concentration in the polluted soils ranging from 89 - 3,521 ppm and 98 - 4,383 ppm, respectively. The minimum inhibition concentrations (MICs) of $Pb^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$ showed the highest values against the fungal strains. $Ni^{+2}$ and $Co^{+2}$ were the lowest contaminants in the polluted soils with the concentration of 5 to 12.1 ppm and 1.8 to 4.8 ppm, respectively. The tested resistant strains showed the strongest inhibition for $Ni^{+2}$ and $Co^{+2}$ up to 200-400 ppm. Cadmium was the most highly toxic heavy metal for most of strains, however, 1 mM of $Cr^{3+}$, $Cu^{2+}$ and $Pb^{2+}$ accelerated the growth of Penicillium verrucosum KNU3. $Cu^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$ at concentration of 1 mM did not affect the growth rate P. funiculosum KNU4. Tolerance of fungal species to heavy metals appears to be strain and origin dependent.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2011

The remediation efficiency of the contaminant through laboratory experiment of the pilot scale was evaluated for the influence factors in the contaminated soils for the applicability of the prefabricated vertical drain system. It was performed numerical analysis by the method that the finite element and finite differences based on the drawn result about the remediation of contaminated soils. The parametric analysis for the applied parameter value was performed. In the pilot scale remediation experiment, as a result of evaluating with the minimum limit concentration ratio, in the case of dense and loose conditon, the remediation time was much longer. And the remediation efficiency was rapidly progressed as the time was elapsed. It was analyzed that the contaminant concentration is reduced around the extraction well as the contamination remediating rate by numerical analysis result as the time was elapsed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.83-91
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• 2003

The electrokinetic technique has been applied to remove mainly the heavy metal and the ultrasonic technique to remove mainly organic substance in contaminated soil. In this study, the combined electrokinetic and ultrasonic remediation technique was studied far the removal of heavy metal and organic substance in contaminated soils. This study emphasized the coupled effects of electrokinetic and ultrasonic techniques on migration as well as remediation of contaminants in soils. The laboratory soil flushing tests combining electrokinetic and ultrasonic technique were conducted using specially designed and fabricated devices to determine the effect of both of these techniques. A series of laboratory experiments involving the simple, electrokinetic, ultrasonic, and electrokinetic & ultrasonic flushing test were carried out. A soil admixed with sand and kaolin was used as a test specimen, and Pb and ethylene glycol were used as contaminants of heavy metal and organic substance. An increase in out flow, permeability and contaminant removal rate was observed in electrokinetic and ultrasonic flushing tests. Some practical implications of these results are discussed in terms of technical feasibility of in situ implementation of electrokinetic ultrasonic remediation technique.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2013

Due to the fact that possible risk associated with soil-crop-food chain transfer, metal contamination in croplands has become a major topic of wide concern. Accumulation of toxic metals in edible parts of crops grown in contaminated soils has been reported from number of crops including rice, soybean, wheat, maize, and vegetables. Therefore, in order to ensure food safety, measures are needed to be taken in mitigating metal pollution and subsequent uptake by crop plants. Present paper critically reviewed some of the cost effective remediation techniques used in minimizing metal uptake by crops grown in contaminated soils. Liming with different materials such as limestone ($CaCO_3$), burnt lime (CaO), slaked lime [$Ca(OH)_2$], dolomite [$CaMg(CO_3)_2$], and slag ($CaSiO_3$) has been widely used because they could elevate soil pH rendering metals less-bioavailable for plant uptake. Zn fertilization, use of organic amendments, crop rotation and water management are among the other techniques successfully employed in reducing metal uptake by crop plants. However, irrespectively the mitigating measure used, heterogeneous accumulation of metals in different crop species is often reported. The inconsistency might be attributed to the genetic makeup of the crops for selective uptake, their morphological characteristics, position of edible parts on the plants in respect of their distance from roots, crop management practices, the season and to the soil characteristics. However, a sound conclusion in this regard can only be made when more scientific evidence is available on case-specific researches, in particular from long-term field trials which included risks and benefits analysis also for various remediation practices.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.396-406
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• 2004

Current physical and chemical methodologies, conventionally used to clean up metal contaminated soils, are generally too expensive to apply in large hazardous waste sites including agricultural lands adjacent to closed or abandoned metal mines. Phytoremediation using plants to extract, sequester and detoxify environmental pollutants is one of the cost-effective and aesthetically-pleasing alternatives, compared with environmentally destructive remedial methods currently being practiced. But, phytoremediation has some limitations such as time consuming and low performance: in general, it is seasonally dependent and slower in removing metals than other methods, and metal accumulating plants are slow growers. Improvement of plants for metal tolerance, accumulation, and translocation using genetic engineering techniques recently opened up new possibilities for phytoremediation. In this paper, we have discussed about recent developments in conventional and genetically engineered phytoremediation. For the conventional phytoremediation, focuses are on the natural hyperaccumulator and the chemically assisted phytoremediation. Some pros and cons on the phytoremediation using transgenic plants, coupled with focusing on the mechanistic view points, are also discussed. It might be concluded that the transgenic plants will be effective tools in the practical application of phytoremediation especially for the highly contaminated soils but mechanisms involved should be deeply understood in advance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.101-108
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• 2000

In this study, we tested hybrid pilot system combined with soil vapor extraction and bioventing methods on the contaminated railroad soil. So, we found out the remediability and operating conditions. Air permeability(k) and gas phase(O$_2$/CO$_2$/VOCs) level trend are very important to determine the remediation rate of the contaminated sites. Throughout hybrid pilot test on different conditions, the range of air permeability(k) was 1985∼1194 darcy. The tests results in hybrid system was appropriate on this test sites, and the suitable injection air flow rate was 3.5㎥/hr. So, we suggested a basic data for the remediation and management of contaminated railroad soil.