Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for stabilizing a subsurface area such as a buried waste pit for either long term storage, or interim storage and retrieval. A plurality of holes are drilled into the subsurface area with a high pressure drilling system provided with a drill stem having jet grouting nozzles. A grouting material is injected at high pressure through the jet grouting nozzles into a formed hole while the drill stem is withdrawn from the hole at a predetermined rate of rotation and translation. A grout-filled column is thereby formed with minimal grout returns, which when overlapped with other adjacent grout-filled columns encapsulates and binds the entire waste pit area to form a subsurface agglomeration or monolith of grout, soil, and waste. The formed monolith stabilizes the buried waste site against subsidence while simultaneously providing a barrier against contaminate migration.

Abstract: A system extracts contaminated vapors from soil or other subsurface regions by using changes in barometric pressure to operate sensitive check valves that control air entry and removal from wells in the ground. The system creates an efficient subterranean flow of air through a contaminated soil plume and causes final extraction of the contaminants from the soil to ambient air above ground without any external energy sources.

Abstract: The invention is a process for the preparation of high quality oxynitride glasses without resorting to high pressures. Nitrogen-containing compounds such as Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 are first encapsulated in a low melting temperature glass. Particles of the encapsulated nitrogen-containing compound are mixed with other oxide glass-formers and melted in an atmosphere of flowing nitrogen and in the presence of buffering gas to form the oxynitride glass. Glasses containing up to 15 at % nitrogen have been prepared by this method.