Soil remediation is still a mystery for many decision makers, something not visible under the surface. The professionals’ understanding is not yet complete, with most having only an overview of a narrow range of engineering tools used for contaminated soil. Knowledge today is not yet interdisciplinary; it mainly mirrors the attitudes of hydrogeologists. Moreover, general engineering, chemical and bioengineering, as well as ecoengineering, viewpoints have not yet been integrated into this knowledge. The reactor approach is an innovative classification and organization of soil remediation into a general contaminated land and soil management structure. It considers the in situ treated soil volume as the volume of a batch reactor, the groundwater flow as a flux in a flow-through reactor, etc., and establishes the (bio)engineering bases for more sophisticated and conscious remediation, with planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation (verification) processes, as is the case with other engineering disciplines.

Key words: bioremediation, in situ  reactors, in situ soil remediation, natural attenuation, passive soil remedial technologies, quasi-reactors, soil remediation