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Soil Remediation

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Contaminating the Water Environment, or even the possibility of contaminating the water environment, are significant factors in the determination of contaminated land.  SEPA have recently released a new version of their ‘Brown Booklet’ which outlines their approach to ‘Water Pollution Arising from Land Containing Chemical Contaminants’ Edition 2.

In the booklet SEPA have set out their approach to the assessment of water pollution in 3 stages, giving us all a great place to start and for the remediation contractor in Scotland,  a place to finish (Text taken directly from the Brown Booklet which can be found here)-

Stage 1 – Develop a Conceptual Site Model to identify possible sources, receptors, and pollutant linkages;

Stage 2 – Determine Assessment Points and Assessment Limits appropriate to each receptor;

Stage 3 – Establish if any linkage is resulting in, or could result in significant pollution of the water environment.

We like the extra meat on the Source-Pathway-Receptor bones which drive our industry.

Another note of interest to the Scottish Remediation Contractor is that SEPA also state that they are responsible for securing remediation of ‘special sites’ as defined by the Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations 2000.  Enforcing remediation is a significant and useful power, doing so in a timely manner is another issue, and one which we hope can be addressed at some stage.

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An excellent idea, avoid the high costs associated with landfill tax and you may even be able to re-use your soils on site, removing the costs of replacing the materials.

Soil recycling can be approached on-site or off-site, the basics principles are –

On-site- Based on SEPA’s (Scottish Environmental Agency) Land Remediation And Waste Management Guidelines, re-use of contaminated soils may be carried out without a waste management license if the excavated soils fit these 6 criteria.

If those doesn’t apply to your site then these may-

Soil remediation treatments including bioremediation, chemical oxidation etc. are all carried out to reduce contamination to ‘acceptable’ levels.  Whilst this can be carried out to change the waste criteria and facilitating cheaper disposal, this can also be carried out to enable the soils to be re-used on site.  A few regulatory hoops will need to be jumped through.

Off-site- Soil treatment centres, of which more and more are springing up around the UK, take soils and treat them to reduce contamination levels.  Please note no landfill tax is levied!  Soils recycled this way are often re-used by the treatment centre for their own purposes.

If you do have the time for treatment but not the space a temporary treatment centre can be set up.  And yes this can be coordinated with several sites so that treatment costs can be shared.

There you have it, with so many options soil recycling may be right for your site.  Feel free to ask us any questions below, or contact us directly!

FREE EBOOK

2021

Soil remediation guide

Approaching soil remediation without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can potentially be very costly. This free eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of soil remediation in the simplest terms.

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As part of the recent Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011, SEPA’s Land Remediation and Waste Management Guidelines (Still awake), an all important criteria for re-use of excavated soils on site without the need for a license exists.  Keep your fingers crossed that you can meet all six.

1. The use is a necessary part of the planned works.

2. The material is suitable for that use.

3. The material does not require any processing or treatment before it is reused.

4. No more than the quantity necessary is used.

5. The use of the material is not a mere possibility but a certainty.

6. The use of the soil will not result in pollution of the environment or harm to human health.

Taken from http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_regulation/idoc.ashx?docid=567836f1-dfa6-4d13-a6d0-0b07f4b2d614&version=-1

FREE EBOOK

2021

Soil remediation guide

Approaching soil remediation without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can potentially be very costly. This free eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of soil remediation in the simplest terms.

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Whether contaminated land is problem largely depends on 2 main factors, does the contamination provide a risk to site users, and/or does the contamination provide a risk to the public and wider environment?

In the simplest terms you will need to have at the very least a Phase I report on the site, listing a history of potentially contaminating activities on the site, and most likely a Phase II site investigation report to show if contaminants are present and what risks they pose.  Environmental Consultants will do these for you (this blog post may help guide you).

‘Contaminated land Problems’ as we’re calling them, are determined by 3 pieces of legislation.  Planning Advice Note 33 (Scotland), or The model procedures for the Management of Land Contamination, CLR 11 (England & Wales), and Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act (UK).

PAN 33 and CLR11 are the most use in answering the ‘is contaminated land a problem’ question as they dictate that a site must be ‘suitable for use’.  A certain level of contamination may or may not pose a risk depending upon the circumstances, for example an allotment on contaminated land will give you different concerns to those that you would have if you were building a car park on the same land.

Part IIA is less influenced by the site use and mainly on the risks posed by the contamination.  Part IIA requires local authorities to identify contaminated land which can pose a risk to human health and/or the environment, and promote remediation when risks are identified.

Our guide to soil remediation includes ‘why remediate’, your copy is available for download below.

FREE EBOOK

2021

Soil remediation guide

Approaching soil remediation without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can potentially be very costly. This free eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of soil remediation in the simplest terms.

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Our friends in the USA have managed to isolate a Fungus which degrades polyurethane, a substance which is used in foams, seals, adhesives and hard and flexible plastic parts.  The fungus has been named Pestalotiopsis microspora, a name which may become as well known as dehalococcoides (a hydrocarbon degrading bacteria widely used in bioremediation).

Excitement is being generated worldwide over this discovery, found during a Yale student’s field trip to Ecuador in 2008, the fungus can survive on a diet consisting entirely of polyurethane and can thrive in both aerobic and anaerobic environments indicating at this stage that treatment of buried plastics (e.g. those in  landfills) may be possible.

At this stage I would expect that applications using Pestalotiopsis microspora would involve a bioreactor where complete control of the fungus and it’s by-products should be feasible.  Hopefully we’ll be able to use the fungus out in the environment in the future, injecting it in to buried wastes.

We’ve found the most useful information on this discovery of the plastic eating fungus on one of our favourite blogs, Treehugger, and also on Plastics News.  Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

The discovery has been published here.

FREE EBOOK

2021

Soil remediation guide

Approaching soil remediation without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can potentially be very costly. This free eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of soil remediation in the simplest terms.

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It does depend on who you ask, as that’s me then I’ll tell you what it means to an environmental remediation contractor.

Soil remediation is, broadly speaking, solving a problem you have with a soil.  Problems can be structural and/or environmental, solutions exist which conquer both.  Environmental problems are generally caused by contaminants, substances in the soil which are either causing an undesired effect, or have the potential to cause an effect in the future.

Remediating environmental problems can be done in many many ways,

Treatment – we can ‘treat’ the soils to reduce contaminant concentrations to ‘safe’ levels,

Physical removal – we can remove the contaminant (and therefore the problem),

Stabilisation – we can tie the contaminants up in the soil so that it no longer causes a risk.

Our services list will give you a good idea of the options available click here.

FREE EBOOK

2021

Soil remediation guide

Approaching soil remediation without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can potentially be very costly. This free eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of soil remediation in the simplest terms.

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On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

A grossly contaminated site.

On the Second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

A planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

A comprehensive Phase 1 report, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

A Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

A Phase II report including risk assessments and proposed target levels, based on the Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Regulatory agreement for the proposed target levels within the Phase II report, based on the Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Remediation options, from a reputable contractor, for the regulatory agreed proposed target levels, within the Phase II report, based on the Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Competitive tenders, based on the remediation options, from a reputable contractor, for the regulatory agreed proposed target levels, within the Phase II report, based on the Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

A reputable remediation contractor, from the competitive tenders, based on the remediation options, from a reputable contractor, for the regulatory agreed proposed target levels, within the Phase II report, based on the Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Commencement of remediation works by the reputable remediation contractor, from the competitive tenders, based on the remediation options, from a reputable contractor, for the regulatory agreed proposed target levels, within the Phase II report, based on the Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

A validation report, for the remediation works by the reputable remediation contractor, from the competitive tenders, based on the remediation options, from a reputable contractor, for the regulatory agreed proposed target levels, within the Phase II report, based on the Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Planning consent, as a result of the validation report, for the remediation works by the reputable remediation contractor, from the competitive tenders, based on the remediation options, from a reputable contractor, for the regulatory agreed proposed target levels, within the Phase II report, based on the Phase II intrusive survey, as a result of the comprehensive Phase 1 report findings, for the planning condition for my grossly contaminated site.

Why not make you life easier and give us a call…?

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – the Soilutions team.

 

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Big toys help!

The video below shows us ‘turning’ contaminated soils, first we added moisture and nutrients, then we put all of the soils through the Allu bucket to aerate and mix the soils.  Why?  Read on.

Before bioremediation is started a few aspects must be considered.  To start with, the contaminant must be ‘right’, i.e. biodegradable which generally means lighter-end hydrocarbons generally in the range of lube oils to petrols.  The soil must be ‘right’ for the process, not toxic enough to limit the process.  Toxic contaminants are most often PAHs, and sometimes metals which are present in concentrations which limit / prevent microbes from functioning.

The principle of the process is that organic compounds are broken down naturally in the environment by degrading microbes.  Bioremediation is the process of accelerating the natural process by stimulating the growth of these degrading microbes.   Stimulating microbes is generally done by controlling some / all of the following-

  • Oxygen concentration (the higher the better)
  • Carbon dioxide concentration (the lower the better)
  • Temperature (the higher the better)
  • Nutrient concentrations (balanced)
  • Moisture content (balanced)
  • Microbe types (e.g. introducing hydrocarbon specific degrading microbes)
  • Microbe number (whilst the above stimulates growth, we often need to add more to boost the process.)

Our blog on ‘What is Bioremediation’ may answer a few more questions, and our web-site  quite a few more.   If you’d prefer to quiz us then feel free at the usual contacts info@soilutions.co.uk and 0131 538 8456.

FREE EBOOK

2021

Soil remediation guide

Approaching soil remediation without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can potentially be very costly. This free eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of soil remediation in the simplest terms.

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Getting the right remedial solution to match your contamination needs can be akin to finding your perfect partner in life.

Sometimes it all works out great and other times the results just don’t quite meet your expectations.

Jumping in both feet first can often lead to problems and greater expenditure down the line.  But delaying could cost you more in the long term.  And you certainly should not be dragged kicking and screaming into a situation which does not feel right to you.

To find your perfect remedial partner you need to appraise your current situation, work out where you want to go and then make an informed decision as to what options are available to you.

Now, I’m not saying we are marriage counsellors, far from it, but we do know how to find you the right remedial solution that will marry with your site requirements.  So why not give us a call to see how we can help you.

 

And why all the marriage references…?  Well our Operations Manager Sam is getting married to Sally this Saturday, and knowing Sam he will have fully appraised his situation, worked out his options and made an informed decission, well before Sally did it for him…!

Best of luck guys – the Soilutions Team

 

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We are constantly being asked to provide a fixed cost for remediation schemes but is this good value for the client…?

It is very normal for us mere remediation contractors to have had no involvement with the site investigation stage of a sites redevelopment.  For some reason our experience is not called upon until the client needs to know ”how much’ and ‘how long’…? By then the SI is done and dusted and there is no money left in the budget to return to site to collect further data to define or quantify the remediation costs.

So we are left to second guess; the extent of the contamination, whether there are sufficient nutrients present for a bioremediation approach,  what the recharge of the wells are, the PSD of the soil, etc, etc, etc.  Hence, there is a large element of risk.  And where there is risk there are added costs.  So if the client wishes us to take on this risk we have to allow for it in our pricing structure.  Simple stuff.

But what about another approach…?  In construction projects it is normal to have a Project Manager, Architect, Structural Engineer, QS, M&E Engineer, etc, etc.  So why not ask experienced folk like us to be involved in your project team at an early stage, so that informed questions can be asked and additional information gained to better inform your remediation strategy and minimise those hidden risks and associated costs.  Or if the SI is believed to be robust, then why not undertake the project on a cost plus basis, where the client carries the risk and the contractor simply undertakes the work demonstrating all remediation costs.  Better for us and better for the clients pockets…!

And a happy client means more repeat work, which we all want.

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What can you do with your asbestos contaminated soil?

I hope you’ve got over the shock of finding you have a problem with asbestos contaminated soils.  Dealing with asbestos is a tricky business, firstly you must find out the asbestos content of the soil, and then the nature of the asbestos (fibrous would be expensive news), you can then look at soil remediation.

Asbestos soil remediation is almost always dealt with by excavation and disposal off site, one option if all you have are asbestos containing materials (ACM) and no loose fibres, is to hand pick the ACMs and dispose of them separately.

The cost of hazardous soil removal might also help you, see this blog post here.

I’ve summarised the main regulations below which I hope will answer a few more questions.  The EIC/CL:AIRE and CIRIA announced a Collaborative Agreement on Industry Guidance and Code of Practice on Asbestos in Soil on  3rd February 2012.  We’re all looking forward to some clearer guidance in the future.  If you have any questions then drop us a line (0131 538 8456) or e-mail (info@soilutions.co.uk), we’ll be happy to  help you.

Both The Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 and The Special Waste Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2004, require that any waste having an asbestos content greater than 0.1% weight/weight (w/w) is classified as Hazardous Waste. Any waste with an asbestos content of less than 0.1% w/w can be classified as non hazardous waste, unless there are other contaminants present which would make the waste hazardous.

Where fibrous asbestos is present at concentrations greater than 0.001%, these can be considered to pose a risk to human health and must be dealt with as hazardous soils for disposal purposes.

Where the asbestos is deemed to be of a fibrous nature the HSE require that the handling of the material is undertaken by a suitably licensed company. The Carriage of Dangerous Goods (etc) Regulations 2009 (CDG2009) applies in this instance.

You local council Contaminated Land Officer and/or Environmental Health Officer should be able to help you understand your responsibilities, however we recommend going to them prepared with knowledge of your problem and your proposed solution.

FREE EBOOK

2021

Soil remediation guide

Approaching soil remediation without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can potentially be very costly. This free eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of soil remediation in the simplest terms.

 

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These small and often well situated plots have been found to be wise investments for re-development.

Petrol stations can be contaminated with hydrocarbons which have leaked from pipes and tanks found beneath petrol station forecourts. Soil remediation and groundwater remediation techniques can be applied to treat the soil and/or water in-situ.  Hydrocarbon treatment technologies are tried and tested and the technology is advancing rapidly.

Alternatively, Dig & Dump can be a more practical option, especially when proposed construction works require forecourts, tanks, bunds, etc. to be removed.

Check here for a list which includes remedial options for petrol station remediation.  We also have an interesting case study here.

FREE EBOOK

2021

Soil remediation guide

Approaching soil remediation without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can potentially be very costly. This free eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of soil remediation in the simplest terms.