The objective of this Statement of Need (SON) was to seek innovative approaches for both monitoring and implementing in situ remediation of contaminated aquatic sediments. The goal of this research was to ultimately reduce costs associated with monitoring and treating contaminated aquatic sediments, while still being protective of human health and the environment.

Specific objectives included:

• Development of new and more effective amendments or other technologies for in situ treatment.
• Design of more effective methods to deliver amendments as part of caps or in situ treatment approaches.
• Development of optimal strategies to reduce monitoring costs through composite or incremental sampling methods.
• Improved understanding of the utilization of lower cost bioavailability measures as surrogates for higher trophic level sampling events.

The focus of this SON was contaminated aquatic sediments, either marine, estuarine, brackish, or freshwater. Contaminants of interest included the predominant contaminants at Department of Defense sites, such as PAHs, PCBs and metals, but also emerging contaminants of concern such as per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances. Proposers clearly stated the contaminants that were addressed by their proposed research approach.

Research proposals should have involved laboratory-, bench-, and field-scale studies, as well as computer modeling to support such efforts; however, all proposals must have demonstrated how the proposed research would ultimately be used to improve management of contaminated sediment sites. Proposers should have addressed one or multiple of the objectives listed above.

SERDP co-sponsored a Workshop on Research and Development Needs for Long-Term Management of Contaminated Sediments in August 2016 that identified high priority research topics in this area. A more detailed description of these issues can be found in the workshop report. It was strongly encouraged for proposers to review the workshop report for additional detail.

Funded projects will appear below as project overviews are posted to the website.