Aspects of remediating the damage caused in soils polluted with hydrocarbons

Abstract

Environmental accidents caused by economic activities in the petroleum and gas industry are particularly damaging for the environment, affecting all environmental factors – water, soil, air, biodiversity, human settlements. All economic operators causing a pollution have to support the costs corresponding to assessing the damage caused and to its remediation and this is why it is important to be able to apply the most efficient remediation method. The current paper presents the main methods that can be applied in order to repair the damage caused by an accidental pollution of the soil with hydrocarbons and uses the case study of a polluted area in Dambovita county, Romania, to present the application of the remediation method. The paper presents both the results of investigations carried out on the affected area, the objectives of the remediation process as well as the steps and the time frame required for the remediation process. The severity of the initial pollution in the analysed area makes this a model study whose elements can be used also in other similar situations.