The Use of Soil Amendments for Remediation, Revitalization, and Reuse
This paper focuses on amendments that are generally residuals from other processes and have beneficial properties when added to soil. Commonly used amendments include municipal biosolids, animal manures and litters, sugar beet lime, wood ash, coal combustion products such as fly ash, log yard waste, neutralizing lime products, composted biosolids, and a variety of composted agricultural byproducts, as well as traditional agricultural fertilizers. Applied properly, soil amendments reduce exposure by limiting many of the exposure pathways and immobilizing contaminants to limit their bioavailability. The addition of amendments restores soil quality by balancing pH, adding organic matter, increasing water holding capacity, re-establishing microbial communities, and alleviating compaction. As such, the use of soil amendments enables site remediation, revegetation and revitalization, and reuse.