Wikipedia was launched in 2001 and has since become one of the ten most popular websites with 18 billion page views. The site aims to provide a neutral point of view and does not require any credentials, which can present challenges for technical topics. ESTCP and Solutions-IES, a division of DAA, have developed the ERWiki to communicate environmental restoration information to a variety of users in a timely and easily accessible fashion. The overall format is similar to Wikipedia with short ‘encyclopedia’ type summaries of current information, with extensive links to reports, project summaries and technical literature.
The ERWiki currently includes over 120 pages with 60 articles, 383 references hosted on the wiki, and 750 external links. Articles have been prepared by a team of internationally recognized experts from academia and industry. Major sections of the ERWiki focus on:
- Common and emerging contaminants such as chlorinated solvents, metals, perchlorate, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), PAHs, trichloropropane, explosives and propellants.
- Transport and attenuation processes such as advection, dispersion, biodegradation, metals mobility, pH buffering.
- Characterization, assessment and monitoring including compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA), direct push, geophysical methods, long-term monitoring, and molecular biological tools.
- Monitored natural attenuation (MNA) of chlorinated solvents, petroleum compounds, and metals.
- Remediation technologies including bioremediation, in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO), in situ chemical reduction (ISCR), soil vapor extraction (SVE), and thermal treatment.
- Site management issues such as source zone and plume modeling, as well as sustainable remediation.
SERDP and ESTCP have supported an extensive portfolio of projects that have substantially improved our understanding of subsurface processes and the effectiveness of different remediation approaches. The ERWiki provides an excellent platform for conveying a summary of these efforts in a more readily available format. This will result in significant cost saving to DoD over the short- and long-term.
