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Federal, state, and commercial agencies are becoming increasingly involved in environmental restoration activities using both conventional and innovative technologies. In order to evaluate innovate technologies, a comparison of these new technologies to established, or "baseline," technologies is needed.

By using this collection of data, managers and decision makers can access a current compilation of different scenarios to compare costs and performance of remedial actions closely resembling the scale and characteristics of projects under consideration.

This Compendium includes synopses of site characteristics, contaminants, and remedial strategies. Detailed information can be obtained from the cited references. The reader is cautioned that all cost data included are site specific and site experiences are highly variable.

A comprehensive search was conducted to gather material for this Compendium. Electronic and on-line databases such as the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) database, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (NCEPI) Repository, and EPA's Vendor Information System for Innovative Treatment Technologies (VISITT) database were utilized.

Standard published forms of data were also included in the search. Reports cited include EPA Records of Decision (RODs), site characterizations, official remedial action reports, including Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Studies (RI/FS) from Superfund and Department of Energy sites, and progress reports from such agencies as the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Defense, and national laboratories. Reports from the Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable were included, as were articles from peer-reviewed scientific journals.

To be included as an entry, the data must have been from actual commercial or pilot-scale remedial actions, completed or in progress. As such, neither hypothetical cost scenarios nor cost comparisons were used as the basis for the numbers entered herein. In addition, every effort was made to provide a reasonable synopsis of clean-up activities. In some instances, however, important site information was not available, such as the starting concentration of contaminants, unit costs, or the total volume of material treated. In such cases, the reader is urged to refer to the cited reference.

There has been no attempt to standardize cost categories that were reported in original data. There are several standardized cost reporting/accounting methods available, including the February 1996 Hazardous, Toxic, Radioactive Waste Interagency Cost Engineering Group's Remedial Action Work Breakdown Structure. But because the cost information may not have been standardized when collected by the original author, and because the sources do not detail the methods by which costs were reported, all cost data have simply been included herein as were found in the original documentation.

As a special note to investigators, project managers, and contractors: For future data collection and remedial action reporting, it is most helpful when information detailing site activities is as complete as possible. Data should include the kind and total volume of contaminated media, starting concentrations of contaminants, and capital and operating costs. As a guideline for reporting site information, please refer to Guide to Documenting Cost and Performance for Remediation Projects, March 1995, EPA/542/B-95/002.

This Compendium contains information obtained from highly-regarded sources. A substantial effort has been made to publish reliable information, but the author nor the Sponsoring Agency can assume responsibility for the validity of all the data or for the consequences of their use.

The Compendium of Cost Data for Environmental Remediation Technologies has been compiled under the Environmental Technologies Cost-Savings Analysis Project (ETCAP) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. ETCAP analyzes potential cost savings that can accrue from successfully implementing innovative environmental technologies. Results of such studies can assist managers in ranking new technologies in terms of cost effectiveness, allocating scarce research and development funding, and recommending which new technologies should undergo implementation for environmental activities. For technical information, contact Steven R. Booth, ETCAP Project Leader, at (505) 667-9422.

This work was supported by the Office of Science and Technology (EM-50) of the U. S. Department of Energy under Technical Task Plan AL101201.

Description, reference to, and inclusion of data in this Compendium does not constitute implied endorsement of technologies or vendors. Inclusion of technology descriptions, brand names, and/or trademarked instrumentation, as such, merely helps to detail cost and experience data of environmental activities. For additional information about any of these projects, technologies, or vendors, the reader is encouraged to refer to the cited reference index at the end of each section.