Abstract
The applied use of plant and groundwater interactions (as described in Part I) to achieve remediation goals at sites characterized by contaminated groundwater is a direct extension of these long-observed natural interactions. The specific application of plants to achieve remedial goals is, however, relatively new. The installation of plants at sites to affect the flow of contaminated groundwater in response to regulatory-driven site-restoration mandates was initiated in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Relative to the total number of sites in the United States that have documented groundwater contamination and require some type of corrective action, the number of published case studies of phytoremediation that specifically addresses groundwater flow issues is few. In most cases at sites characterized by contaminated groundwater, the chosen corrective action involves conventional pump-and-treat of contaminated groundwater or groundwater flow interception by trenching. This is despite the efforts made by various state and federal regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), as well as other federal agencies, to promote phytoremediation as an alternative corrective action.
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Landmeyer, J.E. (2012). Site Assessment and Characterization. In: Introduction to Phytoremediation of Contaminated Groundwater. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1957-6_6
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