Abstract: An in situ method of cleaning contaminated soil and/or water comprises breaking up contaminated soil, admixing soil with water and a biodegradable detergent in a proportion effective to obtain an aqueous slurry where the contaminant and the detergent interact, allowing the slurry to stand under conditions effective to permit any contaminant-detergent formations to rise in the aqueous slurry, separating the contaminant-detergent formations from the aqueous slurry, now comprising partially decontaminated soil and water, separating the soil from the water, repeating the cleaning and separation steps until the soil has less contaminant than a predetermined value, typically a 80 to 90 percent decrease, admixing the low contamination-soil with water and an activating agent for contaminant-degrading microorganism, the agent being capable of generating hydrogen peroxide (H.sub.2 O.sub.

Abstract: An in situ method of cleaning soil and/or water contaminated with a contaminant comprising one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of metal compounds, sulfur compounds and cyanide compounds comprises breaking up contaminated soil, admixing soil with water and a biodegradable detergent in a proportion effective to obtain an aqueous slurry where the soil, any contaminant and the detergent interact to form contaminant-detergent formations, allowing the slurry to stand under conditions effective to permit any contaminant-detergent formations to rise in the aqueous slurry, separating the contaminant-detergent formations from the aqueous slurry now comprising partially decontaminated soil and water, separating the soil from the water, repeating the cleaning and separation steps until the soil has less contaminant than a predetermined value, typically a 80-90% decrease, admixing the soil having a lower contamination level with water and an activating agent for microorganisms capable of removing the

Abstract: A filter plate for removing hydrocarbons and other contaminants from solutions and gases comprises a plate provided with rows of alternate perpendicular and parallel, substantially linear openings. A liquid and gas filtering apparatus comprises a container provided with the filter plate of the invention, means for inflow and outflow of water or air and means for introducing and removing filtering materials. A method of purifying a solution or a gas comprises removing impurities by passing the solution or gas through a filtering material supported on the filter plate of the invention. A method of removing hydrocarbons and other contaminants from a solution or gas comprises passing the solution or gas through a filtering material supported on the present filter plate. A method of reducing clogging when removing contaminants from a solution comprises passing the solution through a filtering material supported on the filter plate of this invention.

Abstract: An in situ, on-the-ground method of cleaning contaminated soil comprises breaking and piling up contaminated soil, placing the broken soil in a substantially enclosed on-the-ground system and circulating air under pressure to promote an increase in temperature which aids the oxidation, vaporization and gasification of the contaminants and substantially harmless metabolic products thereof produced by indigenous microorganisms, extracting any gases or vapors comprising the contaminants and metabolic products thereof from the now substantially decontaminated soil under vacuum, filtering the thus extracted gas- or vapor-containing air to separate clean air from the contaminants, and return it to the environment or recycle it, and returning the decontaminated soil to the environment.