Small science may clean a big problem – 350,000 Superfund sites

They’re scattered all around the United States, more than 1,200 of them, waiting for cleanup. Some are old military bases or abandoned factories. Others are gas stations with leaky underground tanks. And they’re only the beginning of a long, arduous task.

Over the next 30 years, the US may have to clean up as many as 350,000 Superfund sites at a cost of up to $250 billion, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

How will taxpayers pay for that?

One solution is to find cheaper cleanup technologies. One of the most promising innovations right now involves microscopic iron particles. At least four teams of researchers are using these "nanoparticles" to attack some of the most vexing underground pollutants, including chromium-6, the groundwater pollutant made famous in the movie "Erin Brockovich."

If these nanotechnologies prove successful, they could reduce cleanup costs at selected Superfund sites by 75 percent, researchers suggest, perhaps saving billions of dollars.

"Using iron nanoparticles is one of the hottest new technologies to emerge in recent years," says Paul Tratnyek, an environmental chemist at Oregon Health & Science University and one of several researchers working on the technology.

By John K. Borchardt | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Full Story: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0210/p14s01-sten.html?s=hns