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Validated sampling strategy for assessing contaminants in soil stockpiles
Frank Lamé1, Ton Honders, Giljam Derksen
1Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO, P.O. Box 80015, 3500 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands. f.lame@nitg.tno.nl
Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)
|December 2, 2004
Summary
A new soil sampling strategy ensures accurate contamination assessment for soil reuse. This method provides a single, representative analytical result for heterogeneous soil stockpiles, meeting Dutch legislative requirements.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Soil Science
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Dutch legislation mandates robust soil sampling strategies for contamination assessment to enable safe soil reuse.
- Heterogeneity in soil stockpiles presents a significant challenge in obtaining representative contamination data.
- Existing methods may not adequately address the variability inherent in large soil volumes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a scientifically sound sampling strategy for determining the mean contaminant concentration in soil stockpiles.
- To ensure analytical results are representative of the true mean concentration, facilitating regulatory compliance for soil reuse.
- To provide a standardized approach for assessing contamination in diverse soil stockpile types.
Main Methods:
- Developed a three-stage sampling strategy focusing on sample pre-treatment and composite sampling techniques.
- Investigated sample pre-treatment methods to enhance representativeness from heterogeneous soil stockpiles.
- Utilized a theoretical approach combined with computerised models to determine the optimal number of increments per composite sample.
- Validated the strategy through extensive field application (2570 soil stockpiles) and analysis of a large database.
Main Results:
- The developed sampling strategy effectively accounts for stockpile heterogeneity by combining a large number of random increments.
- A pre-treatment method and theoretical model were established to determine the necessary number of increments for representative sampling.
- Implementation over four years across various soil types confirmed the strategy's applicability and reliability.
Conclusions:
- The model-driven sampling strategy successfully generates analytical results that are representative of the mean concentration in soil stockpiles.
- This validated strategy meets the requirements for accurate contamination assessment under Dutch soil reuse legislation.
- The approach provides a reliable framework for managing and reusing soil resources effectively.