Description and Sampling of Contaminated Soils

This book describes many field methods and procedures that can be used for preliminary site reconnaissance, detailed site and contaminant characterization/sampling for transport/fate modeling and risk assessment, and for remediation selection and design.

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This second edition of EPA's bestselling book, Description and Sampling of Contaminated Soils: A Field Guide, Second Edition, has been revised and significantly expanded over the original edition. An ideal reference for anyone involved in site investigations, this guide describes how to determine the amount and extent of soil contamination and potential for movement of contaminants in the soil and groundwater. It contains checklists, tables, and step-by-step descriptions of methods and procedures for:

Cost-effective, detailed site investigations for evaluating the potential for contaminant transport

Field collection of information on soil engineering properties required for remediation selection and design
This guide also features an adaptation of soil description procedures used by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (SCS) for investigating contaminated sites. The SCS soil description and classification procedures, when used in combination with the Unified Soil Classification System currently used by geologists and engineers, greatly improves contaminated site assessments.