A NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) was conducted from November
6-10, 1995 in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. This ARW was focused on the
technical, institutional, and socio-economic implications of soil and
groundwater remediation in central and eastern Europe. The five-day
duration of the meeting provided an excellent forum for the forty-one
delegates to discuss, on both formal and informal bases, the existing
situations in central and eastern Europe with regard to a wide range of
issues. As well, the meeting period included technical 'site visits to
Chodos and Vresova, in the Czech Republic. The discussed issues included
(i) development of an understanding of the extent of existing
environmental hazards, (ii) the remediation methodologies currently
being employed, (iii) the existing exposure risks to humans and the
environment, and (iv) the alternative procedures for dealing with the
distribution of costs for any necessary remediation, while creating
incentives to reduce future pollution generation. With the complications
and difficulties of dealing with these issues, there was never a
shortage of points for discussion.