Environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water for the general protection of human health and the environment or from a brownfield site intended for redevelopment. Remediation is generally subject to an array of regulatory requirements, and also can be based on assessments of human health and ecological risks where no legislated standards exist or where standards are advisory.

In the USA the most comprehensive set of Preliminary Remediation Goals (PRGs) is from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9. A set of standards used in Europe exists and is often called the Dutch standards. The European Union (EU) is rapidly moving towards Europe-wide standards, although most of the industrialised nations in Europe have their own standards at present. In Canada, most standards for remediation are set by the provinces individually, but the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment provides guidance at a federal level in the form of the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines and the Canada-Wide Standards|Canada-Wide Standard for Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Soil.

Paul E. Stamets (born July 17, 1955) is an American mycologist, author, and advocate of bioremediation and medicinal mushrooms.

Stamets is on the editorial board of The International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, and is an advisor to the Program for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Medical School, Tucson, Arizona. He is active in researching the medicinal properties of mushrooms, and is involved in two NIH-funded clinical studies on cancer and HIV treatments using mushrooms as adjunct therapies. Having filed numerous patents on the antiviral, pesticidal, and remediative properties of mushroom mycelia, his work has been called pioneering and visionary. A strong advocate of preserving biodiversity, Stamets supports research into the role of mushrooms for ecological restoration.

The author of numerous books and papers on the subject of mushroom identification and cultivation, Stamets has discovered four new species of mushrooms. He is an advocate of the permaculture system of growing, and considers fungiculture a valuable but underutilized aspect of permaculture. He is also a leading researcher into the use of mushrooms in bioremediation, processes he terms mycoremediation and mycofiltration.

Greg Rickford (born September 24, 1967 in Paris, Ontario) is a Canadian politician. Rickford was elected to represent the Ontario electoral district of Kenora in the 2008 Canadian federal election.

Prior to entering electoral politics, Rickford worked as a nurse and lawyer in the remote First Nations communities of the Kenora District. Rickford holds degrees in common and civil law from McGill University and an MBA from Laval University. He made improving economic and infrastructure conditions for First Nations in the area one of his central campaign themes.

A member of the Conservative Party of Canada, Rickford is the first Conservative MP ever elected in the 84-year history of the Kenora riding. He is a member of the House of Commons Standing Committees on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, and Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. Rickford also chaired the All Party Tourism Caucus for the 40th Parliament. Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Rickford to become Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages on August 30, 2010. On January 30, 2011, Rickford was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.