sustainable technologies and social costs for eliminating contamination of an aquifer可持续发展的技术和社会成本消除污染的含水层.pdfVIP

Sustainability 2010, 2, 2219-2231; doi:10.3390/su2072219 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 /journal/sustainability Article Sustainable Technologies and Social Costs for Eliminating Contamination of an Aquifer Mario Schirmer 1 and Horst Niemes 2,* 1 Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Überlandstraße 133, P.O. Box 611, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; E-Mail: mario.schirmer@eawag.ch 2 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: E-Mail: email@horst-niemes.de; Tel.: +4 1-44-823-5382; Fax: +4 1-44-823-5210. Received: 30 May 2010; in revised form: 25 June 2010 / Accepted: 9 July 2010 / Published: 16 July 2010 Abstract: This case study deals with long-term contamination of the Leuna aquifer, which is intended to be restored using sustainable technologies financed by the state. The contamination can only be solved using active rather than passive intervention, because the aquifer has an extraordinarily low natural attenuation capacity for the specific pollutants. Due to the longevity of the contamination source, the groundwater treatment technology that was chosen for the site must operate for a minimum of 20 years but probably much longer. Since the polluter-pay principle cannot be applied, the estimated dynamic primary remediation costs must be accepted as a political or social cost, which must be paid by current and future generations. Keywords: groundwater co