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Groundwater Protection in Selected Countries 3. Groundwater protection milestones
In order to reach the goal of successfully protecting the groundwater resource from point source contamination, a number of milestones must be passed. Exactly which milestones are passed depends partly on the path taken. Some milestones, however are common for all paths. These include obtaining public awareness of groundwater contamination, permitting activities which involve a risk of polluting groundwater, identification of existing point sources which may contaminate the groundwater resource and remediation of these sites. Other milestones passed on the road to groundwater protection strategy. Different countries may emphasise different milestones, depending on their specific needs, their available financial resources and the maturity of their protection programme. 3.2 Categories of milestonesMilestones can be viewed as falling into one or more of three categories: legislative, technological and implementary. These aspects do not always coincide time-wise. For example, legislative drivers for remediation of contaminated sites may be in place without this directly resulting in implementation. Legislative milestones Legislation provides the driver necessary to initiate progress towards a milestone. To be effective, certain elements must be present in the legislation. Firstly, the legislation must identify the authority who is responsible for the area in question. Secondly, the legislation must of course, describe the authorities duties. Thirdly, the legislation must provide for financial responsibilities (polluter, state, landowner). Finally, the legislation must include provisions for enforcement. Variations on this theme can occur. For example, some voluntary programs without provisions for enforcement have been successful. An example of a voluntary agreement is the OM-programme in Denmark, in which the oil industry investigates and remediates former petrol stations which are potentially contaminated. Technological milestones Many of the milestones which must be reached in order to achieve adequate groundwater protection are of a technological or scientific nature. A good example of an increase in technology is in the field of remediation techniques. Here rapid advances have been made in recent years, making it possible to remediate sites which were previously not solvable. Recent technological advances have been made, for example, in remediation techniques which use reactive walls with zero-valent iron and which use steam stripping. The need for new technology means that research and development programmes are vital to achieving groundwater protection. A well known example of such a program in the field of remediation techniques is the USEPA’s Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) programme. Other countries also have research and development programmes. There is important to ensure that results from these programmes are shared effectively through various means of communication (conferences and the like). Implementation milestones There is not always the same focus on implementation milestones as on legislative milestones. However, in order for legislation to have an effect, proper implementation is necessary. One requirement is that the legislation itself it suitably specific for implementation. Another major requirement for proper implementation is an infrastructure of environmental authorities which have the capability of carrying out their duties. This is typically carried out on the regional scale. Implementation strategies are not static and should be viewed as an on-going process. Implementation should frequently be assessed, and the results should lead to adjustments in the implementation process.
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