Why Monitor?

With more and more contaminated sites being cleaned up, a shift in environmental efforts is occurring from clean up to compliance. At the same time, for a number of contaminated sites alternative clean up solutions are proposed and implemented, including in situ treatment using either enhanced bioremediation or organic and inorganic barriers. Associated with both compliance and in situ treatment are specific requirements (both regulatory and operational) on the performance of the subsurface system. Monitoring efforts need to provide information on whether these requirements are met.

The Goal of Monitoring

Monitoring efforts are motivated by the need for information, ideally actionable information. Specific information needs are defined by the monitoring stakeholders. Stakeholders typically include:

• Site owners
• Site operators
• Regulators
• Public
• Scientists

Information is typically derived from a combination of data (either raw or processed) and models, which are condensed in a useable format (which can vary by stakeholder). A specific goal of monitoring is to collect the appropriate data in such a way that these information needs can be met. It is important to note that while data collection is a critical element of all monitoring efforts, the data collection is only part of such monitoring efforts.