F. Arendt - Böcker

A. Rorsch TNO Board of Management In 1985 the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, in cooperation with the Netherlands Ministry for Housing, Physical Planning and the Environment, took the initiative for a conference on an important environmental problem: contaminated soil and groundwater. We named it, somewhat self-assured, the First International TNO Conference on Contaminated Soil. And indeed the contamination of soils and groundwater proved to be an environmental issue of such an extent that soon after the successful first conference, TNO started preparations for a second one, this time in cooperation with the State Ministry for the Environment (Umweltbehorde) of Hamburg. And now we are on the brink of the third conference, organized together with the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Centre (Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe). We feel honoured that the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMFT) is again generously supporting this conference, and has anew declared it a BMFT Status Seminar. The conference (generally referred to as Contaminated Soil '85, Contaminated Soil '88 and Contaminated Soil '90, respectively) has successively gained in importance and prestige, which is reflected by the increasing number of participants and contributions to the scientific programme.

Towards sustainable land use Dr. P. Folstar, Member of the TNO Board of Management Dr. M. Popp, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Research Centre Karlsruhe (FZK) Ten years ago, in 1985, TNO initiated the First Conference on Contaminated Soil in Utrecht. At that time, a rather complete inventory of suspected contaminated sites existed in The Netherlands. Time had come to consider further actions for investigations, evaluation and remediation. This concern has been spreading ever since to other European countries and throughout the world. In particular, German scientists and authorities soon recognized the significance of this problem, and consequently joined TNO in organizing and funding a forum for discussions in a series of conferences. Following three venues in German cities, the 5th conference in Maastricht, a Dutch as well as a European city, marks the increasing interest in the international scientific and political community. Application of the concept of sustainable development to soil as an essential element of human existence requires an answer to the question how to meet the needs of today's generation without impairing the possibilities of mankind in the future. As we do not know the needs of the future, especially regarding the functional requirements of soil use, we can hardly do better than starting from the present priorities. This can not mean to guarantee the quality of soil functions everywhere at any time.

These volumes contain the proceedings of the Fifth FZK/TNO Conference on Contaminated Soil. The themes discussed are as follows: 1. National and International Programmes. 2. Site Investigation. 3. Emission and Fate of Contaminants. 4. Characterization of Contaminated Soil. 5. Effects and Risks. 6. Standards and Protocols: Legal, Economic and Social Aspects. 7. Remediation of Contaminated Soil. 8. Sustainable Land Use. 9. Setting Priorities for Remediation Options. 10. Contributions from Workshops and Technical Sessions.

F. Arendt, XxX (Conference chairman) w. Harder, TNO (Conference co-chairman) The 1993 Berlin conference on contaminated sites is the fourth in a series of meetings initiated by the Netherlands Organization of Applied Scientific Research (TNO) in 1985 and later continued with the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research center (KfK) of Germany. The present economic stagnation or recession in many countries is leading to various proposals to reduce the level of costly environmental activities: restricted funds are used for really urgent cases rather than precautionary measures. The level of soil contamination caused by the former centrally planned economies adds to this tendency. The Conference tries to broach this controversy by discussing once more the targets and strategies of soil remediation with follow-up use of the site as an important parameter. Both new regulations and modifications of existing lists for a tolerable level of contamination are reviewed alike. Immobilization and enclosure of pollutants are often less expensive than complete remediat­ ion and, consequently, may grow in significance. We consider the conference of great significance for demonstrating the experiences gained with management and remediation of contaminated sites internationally, among others to avoid mistakes and excessive costs. Two new types of soil contamination became apparent after the end of the cold war. Many military sites, airfields and train­ ing grorinds are being abandoned. After decades of use, large sections and hot spots of these sites are polluted to a high average level.