This activity involves a pilot-scale demonstration of the use of hot/liquid water for the removal of organic contaminants from soil at the pilot (20 to 40 kg) scale. Lab-scale studies are being performed to determine the optimum temperature, contact time, and flow rates for removal of the organic contaminants. Initial investigations into using carbon sorbents to clean the extractant water for recycle use and to concentrate the extracted contaminants in a small volume for disposal are also being performed. Liquid water is normally considered to be too polar a solvent to be effective for removal of organic contaminants from contaminated soils and sludges. However, the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) has demonstrated that the polarity of liquid water can be changed from that of a very polar solvent at ambient conditions to that of an organic solvent (e.g., ethanol or acetonitrile) by simply raising the temperature. The EERC has exploited this unique property of liquid water to obtain highly selective extractions of polar (at lower temperatures) to nonpolar (at 200 to 250 C) organics from contaminated soils and sludges. Only moderate pressures (a maximum of about 45 atm at 250 C and lower pressures at lower temperatures) are required. With this procedure, all detectable hazardous organics were removed from the sludge, thus making the remaining material (about 99% of the original mass) a nonhazardous material. The present understanding of hot/liquid water extraction for the removal of hazardous organics from contaminated soils and sludges is being used to develop the engineering parameters needed to perform a pilot-scale demonstration of the remediation technology. Progress during the report period is summarized.