DECONTAMINATING AND PROCESSING DREDGED MATERIAL FOR BENEFICIAL USE

Management of contaminated dredged material is a major problem in the Port of New York and New Jersey. One component of an overall management plan can be the application of a decontamination technology followed by creation of a product suitable for beneficial use. This concept is the focus of a project now being carried out by the US Environmental Protection Agency-Region 2, the US Army Corps of Engineers-New York District, the US Department of Energy-Brookhaven National Laboratory, and regional university groups that have included Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Stevens Institute of Technology. The project has gone through phased testing of commercial technologies at the bench scale (15 liters) and pilot scale (1.5--500 m{sup 3}) levels. Several technologies are now going forward to large-scale demonstrations that are intended to treat from 23,000 to 60,000 m{sup 3}. Selections of the technologies were made based on the effectiveness of the treatment process, evaluation of the possible beneficial use of the treated materials, and other factors. Major elements of the project are summarized here.