What usually happens in this type of remediation program is the contaminated soil is taken to a site that has some kind of impermeable layer, such as natural clay or artificial materials buried in the soil, so that contaminants cannot leech away and cause trouble elsewhere. If the contaminated site is near a water source, this usually encourages the relocation.

Also, many sites receiving contaminated soil will process it to remove some of the contaminants, either those that are easiest to remove or pose the most harm.