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Remediation

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Are you worried about disposing of your waste soil?
Relax, we’ve written an eBook to help demystify the WM3 Waste Classification guidance and best of all, it’s free!

In the eBook we classify an example soil and explain:

  • how we identified the appropriate LoW code
  • how we describe the Hazard Properties

We also discuss where WAC testing fits in, ‘inert’ waste and the different off-site disposal routes available.

We fully appreciate that it can be a very daunting task to classify waste soils and then identify appropriate disposal routes.  It can also be costly if mistakes are made.

Soilutions are a knowledgeable & licensed waste broker as well as an established environmental consultancy – get in touch and take advantage of our experience!

FREE EBOOK

2022

Waste soil classification and disposal options

Classifying waste soils for disposal without any prior knowledge can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, especially when it can be very costly if you incorrectly classify the material. This eBook will help you understand the whats, the whys and the hows of waste soil classification in the simplest terms.

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What does a Phase 2 (Intrusive) Site Investigation involve?

The mock conceptual site model we used in our previous posts identified some known and unknown items that require assessment, such as:

  • Is the neighbouring engineering works or rail yard affecting the site?
  • Has the leaking fuel tank impacted the ground or groundwater?
  • Has the former gasworks impacted the ground or groundwater?
  • Is contamination moving through the ground to neighbouring property?
  • Are there any vapours or gases that might affect the proposed development?
  • Is groundwater flowing towards the pond or not?

The unknown parts are what the Phase 2 investigation should attempt to answer.

The Site Investigation

Having an understanding of the typical contamination associated with industrial processes in particular, at least gives the Phase 2 a fighting chance of successfully understanding and fixing problems.

Our investigations would call for collection of soil, groundwater (and possibly surface water), vapour or gas monitoring to confirm sources of risk but also confirm that pathways are in action, if we are collecting groundwater samples we can also calculate the direction of groundwater flow for example.

We can employ a multitude of site investigation techniques, which can be summarised as follows:

We select the technique or combination of techniques on site conditions and to provide the most economic and technically balanced approach possible.

For the sake of this example, the investigation may have included shallow window sampling boreholes and deeper shell and auger boreholes with gas/vapour and groundwater monitoring installations. It is also possible that additional trial pits could have been used to collect soil samples across the site.

As part of any investigation, it is common to include monitoring of groundwater, gas and vapour or other aspect of concern.  These monitoring visits can be done over several weeks or months depending on the scope and purpose and are usually detailed as part of the investigation design.

We’re happy to talk so feel free to contact us on 0800 0209 307 or e-mail us on info@soilutions.co.uk.  While we finish our eBooks on Phase 1 and Phase 2 Investigations, why not check out these related blogs:

What is a Phase 1 Environmental Investigation?

Do I need a Phase 1 Environmental Site Investigation?

Why might a Phase 2 Intrusive Investigation be necessary?

FREE EBOOK

2021

Phase 1 Desk Studies / Preliminary Risk Assessments

Do you want an insight on Phase 1 Desk Studies / Preliminary Risk Assessments for Contaminated Land? This eBook has been written specifically for those new to contaminated land and provides an overview for the uninitiated of what steps you need to follow.

FREE EBOOK

2021

Phase 2 Site Investigations

Do you want an insight on Phase 2 Site Investigations? This eBook has been written specifically for those new to contaminated land and provides an overview for the uninitiated of what steps you need to follow.

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We get this question from 3 types of clients, the ones who don’t know if we can help them, the ones who think we can remove any contaminant from any material, and the people in the middle who have used remediation contractors in the past and have a good idea of what we can do.

This post attempts to level the playing field a little, hopefully helping more people consider cleaning their soils instead of disposal, and helping some not to get too excited / disappointed when a solution doesn’t fit their scope.

Any contamination scenario can be remediated!

And for the most part an on-site treatment solutions exist, whether it fits your budget or timeframe is a different matter.

In my experience the relationship between soil treatment and the outcome of the soil for re-use is as follows-

There are 2 main types on contaminant, inorganics (e.g. lead, arsenic), and organics (e.g. petrol / diesel), remediation of these is in general very different.  It’s difficult to remove metals from soils, conversely it can be quite simple to remove some of the common organic contaminants (e.g. TPH).  The flip side of the coin is that metals can be relatively easily bound up in soils by stabilising them, while organic contaminants can be difficult to contain.

Implications for re-use

If the contaminant can be removed from the soil e.g. organics, then in theory the soil can be re-used in whatever capacity you need it for not accounting for geotechnical properties, e.g. sub-soils beneath gardens.

If the contaminant can’t be easily removed e.g. metals, and has been tied up with binding agent to form a material with a consistency between soil and concrete, then it’s unlikely you can re-use as a sub-soil for example, but might become very useful as fill beneath structures.

Feel free to contact us for advice as it’s always easier discussing projects on an individual basis as no site / scenario is the same.  You can also find some of the treatment options we offer 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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When dealing with groundwater remediation as with most things in life there are various options. Do you want to treat in situ? Do you want to extract the water and dispose off site? Or extract and treat on site?

Choosing the right treatment technique can require a lot of site investigation and data collection to decide upon the correct treatment. Once a treatment has been decided upon, approval and licences from local authorities may need to be obtained. Site management and monitoring/sampling regimes will need to be organised. Continual data collection, reporting, a final validation and a final summary report completed.

Soilution’s most used remediation techniques include :-

  • Pump and treat
  • Extraction and disposal
  • Chemical oxidation
  • Air Sparging
  • Vapour extraction

Common practice can be to install an Impermeable barrier to contain or restrict contaminant migration. Ultimately this will not remove the contaminant so a treatment system may need to be installed along with the barrier.

Whether you’re just getting an idea of groundwater remediation, or you’re looking for ‘The Works’, if you have any questions then please feel free to contact us on 0800 0209 307 or email us

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 with many things in life we are always searching for the quick fix. Unfortunately when dealing with contamination one doesn’t really exist. Gone are the days of being able to sweep problems under the rug. Many of today’s remediation jobs are a result of the ‘leave it to someone else’ attitude, along with more lax bygone environmental governance.

Prepare yourself for a possible drawn out process. Even the smaller issues such as a domestic heating oil spill can take months to remediate. Processes you need to take into account can include consultations, site visits, desk studies, site investigations, dealings with appropriate authorities, sampling, developing and implementing remediation plans, monitoring visits, validation, reporting, to name a few.

There is no cut and dry approach to remediation, just because a system works on one site doesn’t mean it can be quickly transferred to another site and be expected to achieve the same results.

Deal with any environmental issues as they occur don’t dismiss them. It is highly likely the contamination will spread, ultimately becoming more costly to remediate in the long run.

If you have encountered an environmental issue, or just looking for some advice feel free to contact us on 0800 0209 307 or e-mail us. Check out the resource section of the Soilution’s website for more helpful advice.

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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Firstly, Georgie is only talking about Londinium, where I’m told the world starts and finishes.  So if you were getting your hopes up that at last the Lord Rogers report of 1999, Towards an Urban Renaissance,  would actually be acted upon you’ll be immensely saddened, though if like me not at all surprised.

Rogers’ report had many recommendations, one of which was “the building of 60% of new housing as schemes on brownfield land”.  So what happened to this ideology and why are we seeing more and more green belt land being given away for housing when we have perfectly good developable brownfield land…?

We believe the main reasons is the perceived belief that all brownfield land is contaminated and because of this it will not be cost effective to develop.  Codswallop…! (A great word if there ever was).  There are now so many economic ways to remediate contaminated land that developing our brownfield sites has never made more sense than right now, especially with our current housing shortage.

What you need is to give careful thought as to how the site should be developed given its perceived contaminated challenges and to do this you need a comprehensive remediation strategy.  As you will know for this to have any credence it can only be produced by those who have first-hand experience of the numerous remediation technologies and magic pixie dusts (more on these in a later post) currently available.  Where possible the development of the strategy must be started prior to any detailed planning of the site development or indeed any intrusive site investigation works.  The reasons why are too numerous to explain here and will be covered in a later post, but rest assured by doing so you will undoubtedly save time and more importantly money…which must be music to your ears…!

There will obviously be inherent risks involved in the remediation of the site and these should be given careful consideration within the strategy, especially as to where and more importantly with whom the accountability for them rests.  But when these risks are clearly explained to you, by the people who have the direct experience of the likely issues you may encounter, you are then armed with sound knowledge to make the right commercial decision.  We all take risks when crossing the road or driving our cars so why not so with developing brownfield sites…?

As ever, if there is anything that we can help you with, why not give us a call…we won’t run you over…!

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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There are many alternate options for solving contaminated soil issues other than landfill.

The landfill tax escalator is currently £102.10/tonne (as of April 2023) and increases in haulage costs from fuel tax have not made a big dent in the contaminated land market.  In many cases we find that developers aren’t aware that they have options, and in those cases they often don’t have the time to implement alternatives by the time they’ve spoken to us.

There are 3 main approaches to managing contaminated soil, these are based on one of the main contaminated land principles which is the Source-Pathway-Receptor model.

‘Source’ is the contamination i.e. the material which is the root of your problem.

‘Pathway’ is the method by which the contamination gets to the receptor.

‘Receptor’ is the term used to describe anything that can be adversely affected by the contaminants; namely you, me, animals, plants, ecosystems, ground and above-surface waters, etc, though this is not an exhaustive list of possible receptors.

Finding a way to manage any or all of these 3 can remove the risk from the contaminated soil which is causing the problem.

Examples as follows-

Source – Remediate the contaminated materials so that they no longer pose a risk to receptors.

Pathway – Remove the pathway, place a barrier between the contamination and receptor in order to prevent contamination and the receptor meeting.

Receptor – Remove the receptor, put a fence around the site, or re-design your development so contamination is in a lower risk are e.g. beneath a car park.

We hope you’ll find that our free eBooks are useful resources, you can find them here, or download the soil remediation guide using the link below. I you want to ask questions please feel free to contact us on 0800 0209 307 or email.

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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In-situ treatment technologies have been improving and expanding rapidly over recent years.  Technologies are now available for the in-situ remediation of a wide range of contaminants in soil and groundwater. Hopefully there is one (or many) which can be used to treat your site.

You are going to have to ask an expert if your contamination can be treated as there is too much variability in contaminants and site scenrios to be able to explain here. A general guide is that organic contaminants (fuels, solvents, etc) are usually treatable in-situ, while most inorganic contaminants (metals etc) are not. If the contaminated materials can be accessed with an excavator or a drilling rig, then it is possible to apply an in-situ treatment, assuming that an appropriate treatment is available. I have always assumed that contamination must be accessible with a drill rig, otherwise you wouldn’t know that the contamination was there.

In my opinion the main benefits of in-situ remediation are-

1. The avoidance of mass excavation works which are often expensive and high risk for health & safety aspects.

2. The potential for the treatment of typically inaccessible materials e.g. at significant depth and/or beneath physical structures.

3. The re-use of previously contaminated materials on site, which can be great for both the environment and for the all important bottom line (e.g. savings compared to dispsoal and re-instatement costs).  Admitedly this applies for most on-site treatments, both in-situ and ex-situ.

4. The safety of keeping contaminated materials below ground level, therefore avoiding bringing them to the surface where there would be a significantly increased risk of contamination spreading.

Click here to read about a recent in-situ remediation project which involved the combined in-situ chemical oxidation & stabilisation of contaminated soil and groundwater.

As always if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us on e-mail or phone – 0800 0209 307.

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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Since my last post I’ve now received an update from HMRC on their stance re the consultation on the draft guidance for Landfill Tax.  Not wanting you to have any more sleepless nights here’s what they’ve got to say…!

“There has been a lot of interest in this consultation and we received around 120 responses. In addition, on 5 November, HMRC and Treasury officials had a very productive meeting with the Environmental Services Association (ESA), the United Resource Operators Consortium (Uroc), and the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management (CIWM) to discuss their views on the draft guidance.”

“HMRC will now consider the range of responses received on the draft guidance. As part of this, we will work with the ESA and Uroc to enable them to develop specific proposals to provide greater clarity for operatives throughout the waste industry on the evidential requirements for lower rating.”

“Therefore, the draft guidance circulated in September will not be published on 11 November as originally planned. In the meantime, the existing guidance applies. Details are available on our website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/landfill-tax/index.htm”

You would have thought that they would be able to cope with 120 responses…wouldn’t you Sherlock…?

So for now it’s the status quo, but please be warned that your contaminated soils may attract the standard rate of landfill taxation and you may be liable for not paying it.

If you’ve got issues with soil disposal why not give us a call to discuss how we can help you at our soil treatment centre and save you money in the process – 0131 538 8456

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Capping is common practice in landfill and can be a simple, effective solution to many contaminated land issues. Capping is, essentially, putting a lid on contaminated material, providing a barrier to the contaminated materials.  Capping can be used for many reasons, to prevent access to people and removing the risks posed by contamination, to providing a barrier from the entry of rainfall or snow-melt and the exit of gases, odours, leachate or any other emissions which can be harmful to the environment.

The most important components of a capping system are the barrier (capping) layer and the drainage (however sometimes a gas collection system is required for putrefying materials).  The barrier has to be of low-permeability such as a thick layer of dense clay, sometimes coupled with a geo-synthetic membrane, concrete or asphalt also makes an effective barrier layer.  The drainage layer, on-top of the barrier, diverts the water away through low permeability soils such as sandy soils and/or gravels.  A layer of vegetation, on a clay cap, can provide slope stability and act as an interceptor for some of the rainfall.  If concrete or asphalt is used, managing the run off is essential to avoid flooding the surrounding area.

The main benefits of this type of solution are that it can be the most inexpensive method and it effectively blocks the pathway between contaminants and receptors.  Capping layers can be transformed into an attractive feature in a short space of time by using the drainage layer to plant vegetation.  The capping system design is easily adapted to suit different ground conditions, climates, budgets and natures of contaminants.

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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We said we would keep you updated on the development of the oil spill in Mayflower Arkansas so one month on here we are and it seems like I might have spoken a bit too soon about the quality of the emergency response.  Recent reports have indicated that there may be chemicals such as Methylene Chloride, Barium and Benzene at detectable concentrations within the waters of Lake Conway and other surface water bodies in the vicinity.  A claim which is disputed by Exxon Mobil and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) who have undertaken to publish their monitoring results on a regular basis.

So what is going on?  Well without going out and having a look  it’s hard to tell and thats assuming it’s actually possible to get close enough to see anything.  However, several conclusions can be drawn.  The available evidence is still very sketchy and no wrong doing has been proven.  Exxon may have done an absolutely flawless cleanup and the initial coverage certainly looked good with a large, fast response.  But they also have an obvious incentive to put as good a face on this as possible regardless of what’s actually occurred in Mayflower.

If (and that is a big if at this point), there has been some negligence or even simple mistakes in the clean up it would not be the first incidence of a large company putting public image ahead of veracity.  A situation which is exacerbated because there is currently massive public distrust of oil companies, particularly in the USA in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico incident.  So Exxon were always going to have a very tricky PR job convincing people that they’re responding properly and not putting the environment, people’s health and livelihoods at risk.  Add in the incentive of damage claims against Big Oil and it’s easy to see why they appear to be keen to control the story, which in turn further adds to speculation of a cover up.    That being said the incentives for residents and journalists to paint this in worst possible light should also be considered, the headline ‘nasty multinational harms small community’ makes a much better story than ‘Accident occurred, response competent and proportional’ and with so much claim and counter claim it’s hard to know what to believe.

Exxon are a huge company with massive resources to devote to a high profile incident like this and they should have access to experienced personnel.  A statistic which jumped out of a recent Reuters article was that on average there is a significant pipeline spill every three days in the USA.  I’m not sure what the definition of significant is in this context and the US is a big place with a large number of pipelines but an average of over 120 significant pipeline spills a year is a fair amount of oil leaking out.  So it’s a reasonable assumption that the people on the ground know what they’re doing.

So back to the heart of the matter, is there contamination in the local watercourses?  Surely, if the lab results show contamination or come back squeaky clean this can’t be disputed either way?  Well, lab results are hard to argue with but it depends on what you sample and how you interpret the analysis as to how cast iron the conclusions are.  When dealing with oil it’s intuitive to think that oil floats so if you sample the surface you’ll encounter the bulk of contamination but the reality is more complex.  Oil in a watercourse can float on the surface, sink to the bottom, dissolve into the water, be adsorbed onto particles or float about in the water column as discrete ‘blobs’.  This is dependent upon a range of factors such as the oil, the water chemistry, temperature and a host of other physical factors.  This seems to be the source of the apparent dispute over the different sets of results.  Oil spills in the environment can lead you into some very murky waters and accurately assessing and interpreting the information requires a fair bit of specialist knowledge.  No doubt we’ll be revisiting this story in the future by which time things should be a bit clearer.

Guide

2022

Visit our oil spill clean up guide

Here we present answers to lots of your questions about Oil Spill clean up. We also cover prevention, health and safety, clean-up, as well as response plans and spill response services.

CHECK IT OUT

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The images and videos of the spill from a ruptured oil pipeline in Mayflower Arkansas are truly stunning and more than a wee bit scary.  The scenes of crude oil pouring around the houses, over the gardens, pavements and along the road guttering of a tidy suburban community are somehow more shocking than images of an oil spill in the middle of a desert or out at sea.  Maybe we’re all just more used to oil being spilt on this scale far away from population centres.  Fortunately the local authorities responded quickly and while the full toll of damage is still unknown at the time of writing it seems that this quick response has prevented oil from reaching the nearest big surface water receptor Lake Conway.

So what do you do if you have a big oil spill?  Well, think of your safety first and then contact the specialists but the principles involved are precisely the same as those for a small spill.

  • Firstly address any health and safety concerns, 22 homes were evacuated in Mayflower.
  • Remove the source, the ruptured pipeline was shut off.
  • Contain the spill, in this case truck loads of sand were tipped into drainage channels to create temporary dams and absorbent pads and booms were deployed in considerable number across drainage ditches and other routes of movement.
  • Remove the Contaminant, in Arkansas reports indicate that so far 18 vacuum tankers have removed more than 12,000 barrels of oil and water.  Over the coming weeks and probably months I’d expect to see further water being pumped out and either removed or passed through treatment systems and it’s likely that the contaminated soil will be excavated and removed where possible with further clean up measures being instituted to address specific localised areas of contamination within the area affected by the spill.

This all sounds big and impressive and it is, although a simple process the logistical challenges of an operation of that scale are considerable.

But if you have a small spill from a domestic heating system in your house you’ll want the same quick response.  If you’re really worried contact the fire brigade who will treat it in the same way as any other emergency call, respond quickly and keep you safe.  A suitably trained specialist can then come to your home and assess the human health risks, you might have to evacuate your house if these are severe enough.  They will identify the leak and take steps to remove the source of the problem.  After this they will take emergency remedial action by deploying absorbents, booms and other measures to contain the spill and then develop a remediation strategy to remove the contamination and put your property back to rights.  Exactly the same procedures just without the fleet of tankers and trucks.

If you find yourself with a spill big or small call 0800 02 09 307 for our emergency response service.

Guide

2022

Visit our oil spill clean up guide

Here we present answers to lots of your questions about Oil Spill clean up. We also cover prevention, health and safety, clean-up, as well as response plans and spill response services.

CHECK IT OUT