Groundwater and Soil Remediation

SRNL directly supports treatment and remediation of contaminated groundwater and soil, with emphasis upon matching effective and efficient solutions to site-specific conditions.

SRNL manages and operates the EM Center for Sustainable Groundwater and Soil Solutions, which provides technical consultation to DOE sites as well as private and public organizations across the country on soil and groundwater remediation. SRNL developed at Savannah River Site Monitored Natural Attenuation and Enhanced Attenuation methods for remediating contaminated groundwater that require less energy and cost than conventional methods and has adapted those improved methods to sites throughout the DOE Complex.

The Advanced Long-Term Environmental Monitoring System (ALTEMIS) is an SRNL-led program supporting the Department of Energy Soil and Groundwater Program by decreasing the cost of monitoring legacy waste sites. DOE’s liability for long-term monitoring is projected to expand for decades and cost billions of dollars. ALTEMIS is designed to move groundwater cleanup from a reactive process to a proactive process, while also reducing the cost of long-term monitoring and accelerating site closure.

ALTEMIS differs from existing monitoring systems by:

  • Using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to strategically use sensors, thereby reducing the number of
    required monitoring wells and sampling frequency while providing the same level of monitoring.
  • Making monitoring proactive instead of reactive.
  • Easily adjusting for climate change.
  • Being easily transferred between sites.
Man setting up solar panels that pumps out groundwater

Associated SRNL competencies and capabilities include:


Characterization of Contaminant Transport in Groundwater

  • Extensive experience with dynamics of contamination in surface water systems as well as at groundwater/surface water interface (hypoheic zone)
  • Developed innovative direct push characterization methods for metals, radionuclides and organics

Environmental Monitoring

  • Pioneers of cost-effective long-term monitoring strategies based on “early warning” indicators of plume advancement
  • Development and deployment of innovative characterization tools

Risk and Decision Analysis for Remediation

  • Leader in applied radioecological research

Technologies for Mitigating Contaminant Movement

  • Successful closure of 399 of 515 sites using innovative and traditional technologies
  • Pioneered development and deployment of passive geochemical and biological remediation and enhanced attenuation strategies
  • Deployed innovative subsurface barriers for hydraulic control and in-situ treatment

Soil Remediation

  • Deployment of soil mixing/blending with application of innovative amendments to minimize contaminant mobility
  • Vadose biological substrate for bioremediation

Mesoscale Transport and Flux Facility (MTaFF)

  • The Mesoscale Transport and Flux Facility (MTaFF) is a center of Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and partnering universities focused on transport and flux of natural and anthropogenic constituents in water, soil and air.