Real-time measurement systems and dynamic work strategies can perform a number of roles during remedial design and implementation. A common issue in the CERCLA site remediation process is that data generated as part of the remedial investigation are insufficient for remedial design purposes. For example, there may still be significant lingering uncertainty about the actual extent of contamination that must be addressed by the remedial action. This uncertainty is not surprising since often the list of contaminants of concern and their cleanup requirements are not finalized until after the remedial investigation is complete. Dynamic work strategies combined with real-time measurement systems can be used to fill those data gaps before remediation begins.

Dynamic work strategies and real-time measurements can change the nature of the remediation itself. For example, real-time measurement systems can be built into a remedial action to guide its course. This can be particularly effective for supporting remediation of subsurface soils or sediments. Dynamic work strategies and real-time measurement systems can be used to adjust groundwater remediation systems that involve active interventions (e.g., modifying injection or extraction rates). Dynamic work strategies and real-time measurements can be used to support waste profiling during remediation, or to fine-tune process control for a destructive remediation technology, or to provide on-the-fly waste acceptance criteria testing. Finally, dynamic work strategies and real-time measurements can be used to determine whether cleanup has been successful while work is underway, minimizing the possibility that remediation teams have to be remobilized to address lingering residual contamination concerns identified during closure data collection.