Monitored Natural Recovery of contaminated marine sediments. Proposal of a monitoring plan for in situ continuous testing and sensing

The aim of this study was to identify the pillars for the realization of a proposal of monitoring plan based on the application of Monitored Natural Recovery processes. The proposal has been realized considering the Mar Piccolo case study in Taranto (Southern Italy) that has been included into the list of polluted Sites of National Interest (SIN) by the Italian Law n. 426/98. In fact, submarine sediments contain high concentrations of heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn) and organic pollutants (PCBs, PAHs and dioxins). In order to achieve the goal, the ISRAP methodology (Interactive Sediment Remedy Assessment Portal) was applied. The main outlooks have been the identification (i) of the principal pollutants as well as the main natural recovery processes, (ii) the definition of the remediation objectives and (iii) the proposal of monitoring activates identifying, also, the principal tools to be adopted. Furthermore, the role of in situ testing and sensing has been discussed.