This article examines a methodology for the rehabilitation of accumulated environmental damage sites (AEDS), based on the conversion of disturbed and contaminated lands into potentially fertile soils using bulk waste (overburden, decontaminated soils, drill cuttings, oil-contaminated soils, and landfill soils) in combination with various technological methods, including thermal decontamination, leaching, and treatment with humic preparations and natural adsorbents. The main conceptual principles of this methodology are based on a combination of organizational and technical techniques (methods). These techniques enable the conversion of disturbed and contaminated lands into potentially fertile soils, and the conversion of waste into secondary raw materials. The objective of this study was to develop a concept for the rehabilitation of AEDS based on the conversion of disturbed and contaminated lands, as well as waste, into potentially fertile soil (PFS) using an innovative technology that takes into account the particle size distribution, chemical contamination, cation exchange capacity, humus content, and the safety (hazard class 5) of the resulting substrate. The technology for producing conditionally fertile soils was examined using the example of a model problem of converting inert coarse waste of hazard class 5 into potentially fertile soil suitable for reclamation. The experimental studies showed that drill cuttings, a large-tonnage industrial waste, are of particular interest as an ameliorant. The resulting complex composition of humic-mineral ameliorant and sand meets the requirements for PFS, as drill cuttings provided 10% of the fine fraction, the humic preparation met the humification standard, and together, the humic preparation and drill cuttings provided a sufficient cation exchange capacity of the soil – 17 mg-eq/100 g. Changes in soil phytotoxicity were studied depending on the reclamation dose and time. A sharp reduction in phytotoxicity was achieved with a reclamation dose of 0.8 kg/m2. Samples of man-made soil with initial lead, zinc, and copper contents were studied.
The extraction of lead, copper, and zinc by dynamic leaching ranged from 80 to 95%, demonstrating the potential of the proposed soil remediation method.
ISSN 1995-4301
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