A. Rorsch Member of the TNO Board of Management Like all living creatures man has from the very outset influenced the environment. Initially, the traces of human activity were hardly noticeable and so were their effects on the equilibrium of the ecosystem as such. However, as soon as man learned how to use tools, he was able to influence his surroundings more drastically, and to proliferate more rapidly. As a matter of fact that is the time when things went wrong, because a process was started off which was to continue with ever-increasing speed and on an ever increasing scale. The present condition of nature as a result of the activities of mankind is generally known. Whether it is an accident with a nuclear plant or the vanishing of tropical rain forests, acid deposition or the pollution of soil, water and air, environmental disasters almost seem to be the order of the day. It is striking that with all these - more or less arbitrary - examples the provision of energy plays a role. In this respect one can add an even more important energy carrier to the list, namely: crude oil."

W.A. de Jong President of TNO Until some decades ago man supposed that the resilience of the environment was unlimited. He thought he could draw heavily on nature with impunity and that he could infinitely dump his waste into the environment. We have come to know better now: virtually everyone is well aware that one cannot just go on burdening the environment of man, animal and plant to such an extent. TNO, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, is among those research institutions that are working on economically feasible solutions for pollution problems resulting from human activities. Soil contamination and remediation feature as important topics in TNO's environmental research programme. In view of the international scope of the problem, TNO organized an international conference on this subject in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in November 1985, which met with a worldwide response from the scientific community as well as from governments and industry. The international interest taken in soil contamination is underlined by the fact that the Second International Conference on Contaminated Soil takes place in a country where remedial action is being given high political priority.

W.A. de Jong President of TNO Until some decades ago man supposed that the resilience of the environment was unlimited. He thought he could draw heavily on nature with impunity and that he could infinitely dump his waste into the environment. We have come to know better now: virtually everyone is well aware that one cannot just go on burdening the environment of man, animal and plant to such an extent. TNO, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, is among those research institutions that are working on economically feasible solutions for pollution problems resulting from human activities. Soil contamination and remediation feature as important topics in TNO's environmental research programme. In view of the international scope of the problem, TNO organized an international conference on this subject in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in November 1985, which met with a worldwide response from the scientific community as well as from governments and industry. The international interest taken in soil contamination is underlined by the fact that the Second International Conference on Contaminated Soil takes place in a country where remedial action is being given high political priority.

A. Rorsch Member of the TNO Board of Management Like all living creatures man has from the very outset influenced the environment. Initially, the traces of human activity were hardly noticeable and so were their effects on the equilibrium of the ecosystem as such. However, as soon as man learned how to use tools, he was able to influence his surroundings more drastically, and to proliferate more rapidly. As a matter of fact that is the time when things went wrong, because a process was started off which was to continue with ever-increasing speed and on an ever increasing scale. The present condition of nature as a result of the activities of mankind is generally known. Whether it is an accident with a nuclear plant or the vanishing of tropical rain forests, acid deposition or the pollution of soil, water and air, environmental disasters almost seem to be the order of the day. It is striking that with all these - more or less arbitrary - examples the provision of energy plays a role. In this respect one can add an even more important energy carrier to the list, namely: crude oil.

Five billion people, at present the world population, inevitably affect the quality of the environment. The general public in an increasing number of countries is getting more and more concerned about this deterioration in quality. As a result many people cast doubts upon the desirability of the increase in energy consumption, the production of superfluous goods, ever-growing waste flows, harmful emissions of industrial processes, and so on. Actually, no one can simply ignore these issues. For instance, the authorities could introduce more environmental legislation aiming at a healthy environment; industries could change to cleaner production processes; the public at large should assume an even more conservation-minded attitude rather than confine themselves to shaking a finger at 'the industry'. In short, in all sectors of society there are often numerous ways and means of curbing environmental pollution. Clearly, environmental technology - the development and application of techniques to identify, quantify and reduce environmental problems - can make a substantial contribution here in many situations. Until now a large number of such new techniques have been developed. Many of these techniques not only appear to add greatly to reducing the burden on the environment, they sometimes also offer interesting economic advantages (savings in raw material and energy, etc.).

F. J. COLON Chairman of the Scientific Committee TNO Division of Technology for Society, APELDOORN, The NETHERLANDS Only these past few years have we gained an insight into the full extent of the problems associated with contaminated soils. The first efforts to take effective remedial action at contaminated sites were seriously hampered by the lack of experience, knowledge and technology. Fortunately, this handicap has been partly alleviated by the experience we have gained in the numerous cases we have had, and -unfortunately still have to deal with. This meeting on contaminated soil is the first international conference to cover such a wide variety of subjects related to the problems that confront us in practice: behaviour of contaminants in soil - impacts on public health and the enviornment - role of governments and other authorities - site investigation and analysis - techniques for remedial action - management of remedial action and risk assessment - safety - case studies This Conference has been organized by the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) in co-operation with the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and the Environment (VROM). It goes without saying that the preparation would not have been possible without the assistance of many people throughout the world and the co-operation between government, industry and research organizations."

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.