Environmental Cleanup Technology Transfer Initiatives
Abstract
This white paper provides brief descriptions of environmental cleanup technology transfer initiatives and points of contact for further information. The summaries describe the mission and goals, the modus operandi or actual activities and projects implemented to achieve the goals, the source and amount of funding for the initiative, and other general information. The initiatives are programs, committees, organizations, and demonstration projects that promote development of innovative environmental cleanup technologies and help ensure the transfer of lower cost technologies into full-scale use. Opinions differ on the meaning of innovative technology. Most of the initiative described here consider a technology innovative if it has been demonstrated at the pilot scale but performance and cost data are lacking. Innovative technologies do not get widely used for many reasons such as risk of failure to meet cleanup standards or unknown cost information. Even if the cleanup succeeds, the project could fail if the public or the regulatory agency distrust a new and different technology. Federal and State agencies, legislatures, and private firms are working to reduce the barriers to technology innovations and commercialization through the initiatives described here. Lower cost technologies are needed to meet environmental cleanup standards in a time of shrinking budgets. Federal lands (military bases, defense production and research facilities, park, forest, and range lands) contain thousands of past disposal sites. The Federal government is committed to the environmental cleanup of these sites although estimates of the cleanup cost exceed $250 billion. Adding in the further cleanup costs of state and private waste sites, the nation's total cleanup estimates exceed $750 billion.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA285059
Entities
People
- Laurel A. Muehlhausen
Organizations
- Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center