sewage irrigation has undermined farmland and groundwater environment by
increasing ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen far beyond
the limits and exacerbating organic pollution.
In addition, surface water pollution exerts a growing impact on groundwater.
Since surface water and groundwater are connected, groundwater pollution is
grave especially in areas with serious surface water pollution, such as the
Yellow River, Liaohe River, Haihe River and Taihu Lake. In some coastal
areas, seawater intrusion in groundwater occurs because groundwater
over-exploitation has destroyed the balance between freshwater and salt water
in the coastal aquifers.
(2) Limited scope of investigation and unclear base number of contaminated
sites
China carried out a nationwide investigation of soil pollution in 2006 and a
national survey and evaluation of groundwater environmental status in 2011.
However, the scope of these investigations is constrained by many factors,
which hinders the full grasp of groundwater contamination in typical sites.
About the limited number of contaminated sites that have been investigated,
many basic data and materials are seriously missing, which adds great difficulty
in the investigation, assessment and remediation of contaminated sites.
(3) Late start of investigation and assessment and imperfect relevant policies
and regulations
Compared with developed countries such as Europe and the United States,
China started the investigation and assessment late of groundwater contamination sites and have not yet established a robust legal system for groundwater
pollution prevention and control. Gradually paying attention to the management
of contaminated sites, the state and local environmental authorities published a
series of environmental standards in 2014, such as the Technical Guidelines for
Site Environmental Investigation (HJ 25.1–2014) and Technical Guidelines for
Risk Assessment of Contaminated Sites (HJ 25.3–2014). Nevertheless, the laws
and guidelines dedicated to the investigation and remediation of contaminated
sites remain absent. As a result, more often than not, there are no statutes to
apply in the supervision of contaminated sites for environmental authorities at
all levels.
(4) Backward technical methods for investigation, assessment and remediation
Technical problems restrict the development of contaminated site remediation
industry. At this stage, the remediation of contaminated sites focuses on soil
remediation and often ignores the investigation, assessment and remediation of
contaminated groundwater. From the view of concept, remediation technologies for contaminated sites are mainly integrated into projects through imitation
that draws on foreign advanced technologies. Given complex situation in
groundwater contamination sites, in the absence of appropriate background
investigation, pollution source intensity assessment and risk assessment, it is
impossible to adopt appropriate remediation technologies and methods
according to pollution types and pathways, pollution source intensity and
8
1 Introduction
increasing ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen far beyond
the limits and exacerbating organic pollution.
In addition, surface water pollution exerts a growing impact on groundwater.
Since surface water and groundwater are connected, groundwater pollution is
grave especially in areas with serious surface water pollution, such as the
Yellow River, Liaohe River, Haihe River and Taihu Lake. In some coastal
areas, seawater intrusion in groundwater occurs because groundwater
over-exploitation has destroyed the balance between freshwater and salt water
in the coastal aquifers.
(2) Limited scope of investigation and unclear base number of contaminated
sites
China carried out a nationwide investigation of soil pollution in 2006 and a
national survey and evaluation of groundwater environmental status in 2011.
However, the scope of these investigations is constrained by many factors,
which hinders the full grasp of groundwater contamination in typical sites.
About the limited number of contaminated sites that have been investigated,
many basic data and materials are seriously missing, which adds great difficulty
in the investigation, assessment and remediation of contaminated sites.
(3) Late start of investigation and assessment and imperfect relevant policies
and regulations
Compared with developed countries such as Europe and the United States,
China started the investigation and assessment late of groundwater contamination sites and have not yet established a robust legal system for groundwater
pollution prevention and control. Gradually paying attention to the management
of contaminated sites, the state and local environmental authorities published a
series of environmental standards in 2014, such as the Technical Guidelines for
Site Environmental Investigation (HJ 25.1–2014) and Technical Guidelines for
Risk Assessment of Contaminated Sites (HJ 25.3–2014). Nevertheless, the laws
and guidelines dedicated to the investigation and remediation of contaminated
sites remain absent. As a result, more often than not, there are no statutes to
apply in the supervision of contaminated sites for environmental authorities at
all levels.
(4) Backward technical methods for investigation, assessment and remediation
Technical problems restrict the development of contaminated site remediation
industry. At this stage, the remediation of contaminated sites focuses on soil
remediation and often ignores the investigation, assessment and remediation of
contaminated groundwater. From the view of concept, remediation technologies for contaminated sites are mainly integrated into projects through imitation
that draws on foreign advanced technologies. Given complex situation in
groundwater contamination sites, in the absence of appropriate background
investigation, pollution source intensity assessment and risk assessment, it is
impossible to adopt appropriate remediation technologies and methods
according to pollution types and pathways, pollution source intensity and
8
1 Introduction