Environmental and socio-economic sustainability assessment of remediation alternatives for a contaminated oil refinery site in Southern China

Refineries are an important industrial legacy, emitting large amounts of petroleum hydrocarbons and highlighting the need for the green and sustainable remediation of contaminated oil refinery sites globally. This study aimed to evaluate the environmental and socio-economic sustainability of thermal desorption (TD) and stabilization/solidification (S/S) strategies for remediating a contaminated oil refinery site in Sichuan Province, China. We calculated the energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollutants across different remediation phases, and quantified the sustainability of the remediation using multi criteria analysis (MCA) and Bayesian networks (BNs). TD consumed 518,088,020 million British thermal units (MMBTU) of energy and emitted 8,916 kgCO₂-eq carbon, compared with 555,706 MMBTU and 5,103 kgCO₂-eq, respectively, for S/S. Socio-economic appraisal showed that S/S was associated with lower economic costs, better worker safety, and greater sustainability, while TD provided more employment opportunities. BN analysis further predicted a 71% probability of high social benefits and a 56% probability of economic benefits from converting the site into a public park. These results highlight the need for integrated strategies balancing environmental remediation, economic viability, and community engagement, to provide a framework for the sustainable urban regeneration of industrial legacies.