Remediation magazine July / August 2017

July / August 2017

Effective Soil and Sediment Investigation Reidar Zapf-Gilje and Guy Patrick, GeoEnviroPro

The Impact of Pharmaceutical discharge in Sewerage Capt Mike Pierdinock, Lightship Engineering

The ‘ins and outs’ of Air Quality Jim Mills, Air Monitors

The 7th International Contaminated Site Remediation Conference

10-14 September 2017 Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Incorporating the 1st International PFAS Conference

Bringing together researchers, regulators and industry • Workshops on hot contamination topics (limited availability) • Travel scholarships available for PhD students and earlycareer researchers • Nominate your work: •

CARE Award for innovation in contamination assessment and remediation

•

Agilent Award for Innovation in Analytical Science

Earlybird registration available until 15 August

www.cleanupconference.com

Cover image

Credit: Churngold Remediation www.churngold.com/divisions/remediation/

July / August 2017

6 18

News Geology Matters in Contaminated Land Management

Jane Dottridge, David Jones, & Paul Nathanail, The Geological Society of London

22

The Contamination Expo Series

26

Case Study: Phosphate monitor protects Cumbrian lake during restoration

2017 Show Preview

Nigel Grimsley, OTT Hydrometry

30

Case Study: Treating wastewater as a resource Nigel Grimsley, OTT Hydrometry

34

The Use of 3D Modelling for Environmental Site Assessment

By Reed Copsey, C Tech Development Corporation

44

Unregulated Discharge of Pharmaceuticals in Sewerage

By Michael J. Pierdinock, Lightship Engineering

50

The Process of Effective Soil and Sediment Investigation Reidar Zapf-Gilje & Guy Patric, GeoEnviroPro

56

The ‘ins and outs’ of Air Quality Jim Mills, Air Monitors

Hygge Media (imprint) and ©Remediation Magazine are the wholly owned property of Holcombe Press Ltd. Every effort is made to verify all information published, but Remediation Magazine and Holcombe Press Ltd cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any losses that may arise as a result. Opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect those of Remediation Magazine and Holcombe Press Ltd. Copyright © 2017 Holcombe Press Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address listed.

64

Recent Advances in Slope Stability Analysis

Robert Pyke, Consulting Engineer

70

Transforming the Black Country

76

REMEDIATE ITN - Improved Decision Making in Contaminated Land Management

Stewart Towe, Black Country LEP

Sabrina Cipullo

82

The Need for Environmental Impact Assessment in Decision Making for Remediation ProjectsManagement Dr Ranveer Singh Mahwa

Remediation Magazine welcomes contributions for publication. Submissions are accepted on the basis of full assignment of copyright to Holcombe Press Ltd unless otherwise agreed in advance and in writing. We reserve the right to edit items for reasons of space, clarity or legality.

Contact: Alex Stacey, Remediation Magazine, 07791 227302 editor@remmag.com Registered Address: Holcombe Press Ltd, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London, EC1A 2BN Company number: 10846587

remmag.com 3

Welcome to Remediation Magazine.

The aim of this publication is to disseminate news, case studies, expert comment, analysis and critical thinking on the remediation of contaminated and polluted land, water and air. However we do understand that remediation is only a part of a bigger picture; therefore we also cover site assessment, site and lab testing, monitoring, stabilisation and solidification, geotechnical and civil engineering, demolition, Japanese Knotweed removal, flooding, technology, policy, legislation, new equipment, health and safety, landfill mining, solid and hazardous waste and much more besides.

This issue has some fantastic editorials from experts from all over the world: Dr Ranveer Singh Mahwar (Former Additional Director of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India), discusses the need for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in decision making in remediation projects.

Sabrina Cipullo (right) and Stacie Tardif (left) collecting samples at the Collstrup site in Hillerød, Denmark.

Read Sabrina's editorial about REMEDIATE ITN on page 76.

Credit: Sabrina Cipullo

Cpt. Michael Pierdinock (Captain on the vessel “Perseverance” and Partner at Lightship Engineering) highlights the unregulated discharge of pharmaceuticals in sewerage impacting fish, game and drinking water.

And Reidar Zapf-Gilje and Guy Patrick (GeoEnviroPro) discuss effective soil and sediment investigation... to name but a few.

We also have a show preview for the Contaminated Expo Series in London, this September. Remediation Magazine is media partner with this outstanding event, and will be at the show if you want to join us and have a chat.

Finally, if you would like to contribute editorials to Remediation Magazine, then please email me at editor@remmag.com I look forward to hearing from you.

Alex Stacey Editor

4 remmag.com

BP and Total risk oil spill with 30% chance of reaching Amazon Reef

A consortium of oil companies including BP and Total may be only a few weeks away from getting permission to drill for oil close to the barely explored Amazon Reef.

Scientific experts have raised concern about plans to drill in the Amazon Mouth Basin, as the companies admit there is up to a 30% chance of oil reaching the reef in an oil spill scenario, based on their own modelling.

Sara Ayech, Oil campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “Marine biologists are calling the Amazon Reef a new biome, a unique ecosystem, which had been thought impossible. But it is already under threat from BP and an oil industry willing to risk spills and worse in their pursuit of fuel which we cannot afford to burn. Wasting money prospecting for soon-to-be-stranded assets is unfortunate, but trashing one of the very few unexplored wonders of nature to do so would be unforgivable.”

The Amazon Reef has been identified by scientists as a unique ecosystem that exists with little sunlight, and is potentially a home to species new to science, 60 species of sea sponges and 73 species of fish already documented.

The reef extends over 9500 square kilometres, an area larger than the cities of São Paulo or London, off the northern coast of Brazil. The Brazilian authorities may decide in July whether to grant licenses to oil companies to drill nearby.

BP is the second biggest oil company in Europe and

6 remmag.com

has one of the worst safety and environmental records of any major oil company operating in the United States.

They were responsible for Deepwater Horizon — when 11 workers died and nearly 5 million gallons of crude oil were spilled into the Gulf of Mexico — as well as many other oil-related disasters. Since the 1970’s, there have been 95 attempts to produce oil in the Amazon Mouth Basin and none were successful, with 27 wells abandoned due to mechanical accidents.

Brazilian authorities have raised serious concerns about plans to drill near the reef. IBAMA, the regulator responsible for issuing environmental licenses to operate have said that the oil spill modelling submitted by BP and Total “does not adequately represent the environmental variability of the region”, and is “statistically incoherent” in places. The federal prosecutor involved stated in May that the companies “did not take into account the important ecosystem of coral reef of the mouth of the Amazon River”, and that exploration nearby “can cause irreplaceable damage to this unique and little known biome”.

Earlier this year, Greenpeace launched a campaign to protect and explore the Amazon Reef, working with a team of researchers to produce the first underwater images of the ecosystem. More than one million people around the world have already pledged to defend the reef, demanding that Total and BP drop their plans to drill nearby. www.greenpeace.org.uk @GreenpeaceUK

DESIGN & MANUFACTURING

30 Tullyodonnell Road, Dungannon, Tyrone, BT70 3JE, UK Call: +44 7710058066 - info@screenpod.co.uk - www.screenpod.co.uk STARTECH SCREENING BUCKETS NEW PRODUCT CRUSHMASTER CRUSHING BUCKETS aj21qo

ao65ta

S4 1500 - 16 TO 25 TON EXCAVATOR

ao65ta

Range fits excavators from 20-50 ton

Increased production versus Jaw crusher design.

*Screening buckets fit excavators from 8-40 ton (various configurations) *Heavy duty in design & completely manufactured from HARDOX 450 & 500 wear resistant materials. *Crusher Range fits excavators from 20-50 ton. *Twin heavy duty hydraulic drive motors (reversible). *Twin crusher flywheels for increased crushing inertia. *Twin crushing shafts with replaceable tungsten carbide tips. * Adjustable crushing apron variable from 50-150mm. *Built in pressure relief valve.*Increased production versus Jaw crusher design.

SCREENPOD STARTECH STAR SCREENS an93dk

Star aperture hydraulic adjustable from 4mm to 104mm, this gives great flexibility in screening size whilst working with variable moisture contents & particle sizes of material. Speed control infinitely adjustable up to 170rpm, shafts are direct driven by individual electric motors for ease-of maintenance.

(No change of chains and sprockets for maintenance)

an93dm

Startech 1518 Star screener

Screenpod Startech units available: - 800mm x 12 Shaft - 1200mm x 12 Shaft - 1500mm x 18 Shaft Startech 8012 Star Screener Folding Frame

SCREENPOD AIRVAC AIRLIFT SEPARATION SYSTEMS

an93dq

• 1600 series (16”) 48kw (62hp) dual vac diesel drive suction unit, • 1600 series (16”) 38kw (53hp) single vac diesel drive suction unit • 1200 Series (12”) 15 Kw High Energy Suction Unit • 1200 series (12”) 15w Equivalent Hydraulic Suction Unit • On-board electrical control panel • Infinitely variable vacuum control • Choice of vacuum drive systems an34sr

Vaccum heads adjustable to fit market leading brands

WWW.SCREENPOD.CO.UK

Fundraising and Attendance Records Broken At 6th JCB Mud Run

`A record-breaking - and capacity - field of 3,000 squirmed and splashed their way to a £70,042 charity total by taking on the challenge of the 6th annual JCB Mud Run. Competitors scrambled over more than 35 obstacles, including monkey bars and water pits, on a specially-created 8-kilometre course, doused with one million litres of water, built on land near to JCB’s World Headquarters, in Rocester, Staffs.

It means that a grand total of £300,000 has been raised for the NSPCC in Staffordshire in six years since the JCB Mud Run started in 2012 - when it attracted a field of 500 entrants. The proceeds of the event supports the work at Carole House in Newcastle-under-Lyme, the NSPCC’s service centre which was set up after JCB and its employees completed a £2m fundraising campaign.

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford was there to fire the starting gun for the first race in which his son, George, took part. Afterwards, George presented a cheque for the

8 remmag.com

proceeds to the NSPCC and said: “What an amazing total has been raised and what a fantastic day. I really enjoyed running the course with my wife, son and daughter. It really is the best one ever. To see how far this event has come in just six years is incredible and makes me very proud. But even though there are so many people here taking part we haven't lost the fun and family atmosphere and that's what makes it special.”

Camilla Wood, NSPCC Partnership Manager, who accepted the cheque said: “We are overwhelmed by the effort and commitment of the JCB team and mud runners today. On behalf of the NSPCC team at Carole House, I'd like to say a big thank you to JCB for putting on a fantastic Mud Run as part of their on-going support for our work with the most vulnerable children in Staffordshire. We are extremely grateful to everyone who braved the amazing obstacle course and raised vital funds to help keep children safe from abuse.” www.jcb.com` @jcbmachines

27 & 28 CONTAMINATION EXPO SERIES 2017

sept 2017

excel, london

SUPPORTED BY:

Europe’s largest event for contamination professionals 120 cpd accredited seminars 150 innovative exhibitors Inspiring case studies Unrivalled networking opportunity

Dr. Yvonne Waterman EUROPEAN ASBESTOS FORUM FOUNDATION

Trevor Renals

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

REGISTER FOR FREE TICKETS!

Dr Chris Stopford

THE UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE

DR CHRIS EVANS HBR LIMITED

WWW.CONTAMINATIONEXPO.COM CALL 08000 68 69 70

@ContaminationEx #Contam2017

Credit: The Construction Equipment Association

Paul Bidwell Remembered The Paul Bidwell Memorial Award was presented on the first evening of Plantworx 2017 to Altrad Belle. This worthy winner was judged to have demonstrated a real commitment to the success of Plantworx through its design, safe construction and delivery of an attractive stand complete with an informative working demonstration area. The selection was made by the Plantworx organisers who were greatly impressed by the creativity and enthusiasm of the Altrad Belle team.

This Plantworx Award recognised the long term contribution made to the UK construction plant industry by the well-liked Paul Bidwell who tragically died in May last year at the age of only 58. Having first worked for Poclain, Paul joined Manitou UK in 1988 and latterly, in his role of Marketing Manager, used to organise and manage the company’s many exhibition stands..

The Award presentation provided a good opportunity for colleagues and friends to fondly remember Paul who was, for so many years, so much a part of the UK plant exhibition scene. Paul’s wife Rosie and his son James travelled from Verwood to Bruntingthorpe to personally hand the Award over to a very appreciative Altrad Belle team. At the handover, Rosie stated that Paul loved his job and was particularly passionate about Plantworx.

During the well-attended award ceremony, CEA Chief Executive and Plantworx Team Leader Rob Oliver stated that Paul was a very committed and valued colleague. Paul was one of the original members of the Plantworx ‘working-group’ and his extensive experience and informed advice really helped to shape the event. So it is apt that, with this Award, his cherished memory will live on.

For more information – please contact Kendal Heron: k.heron@manitou-group.com @ConEquipAssocia @PlantworxPR

10 remmag.com

Remote Remote environmental environmental Remote Remoteenvironmental environmental Remote environmental monitoring monitoring & Remote environmental monitoring monitoring && & monitoring & control control systems systems monitoring & control controlsystems systems control controlsystems systems

• Water • Water level, level, quality quality & flow & flow • • level, level, quality quality & flow & flow • Water Meteorology • Water Meteorology • • Meteorology •• Meteorology Soil • Soil moisture moisture Water level, quality & flow • • Soil moisture moisture •• Soil Web • Web enabled enabled comms • Water level,comms quality & flow Meteorology • Web ••Web enabled enabled comms comms Meteorology • Soil moisture • Soilenabled moisture • Web comms • Web enabled comms

For For further further information information on any on any of the of the above above market-leading market-leading brands, brands, please please contact: contact: For For further further information information on any on any of the of the above above market-leading market-leading OTT OTT Hydrometry Hydrometry Ltd,contact: Ltd, UnitUnit 19 Jessops 19 Jessops Riverside, Riverside, 800800 Brightside Brightside Lane, Lane, brands, brands, please please contact: Sheffield Sheffield S9 2RX S9 2RX OTT Hydrometry Hydrometry Ltd,Ltd, UnitUnit 19 19 Jessops Riverside, Riverside, 800 Brightside Brightside Lane, Lane, ForOTT further information onJessops any of the above800 market-leading Sheffield Sheffield S9 2RX S9 2RX Tel: Tel: 01246 01246 573 573 480 480 Fax: Fax: 01246 01246 813 813 873 873 brands, please contact: For further information on any of the above market-leading Email: Email: uksales@ott.com uksales@ott.com Web: www.ott.com www.ott.com OTT brands, Hydrometry Ltd,contact: Unit 19 Jessops Riverside, 800 Brightside Lane, Tel: Tel: 01246 01246 573573 480 480 Web: Fax: Fax: 01246 01246 813813 873 873 please Sheffield S9 2RX Email: uksales@ott.com uksales@ott.com Web: Web: www.ott.com www.ott.com OTT Hydrometry Ltd,Email: Unit 19 Jessops Riverside, 800 Brightside Lane, www.twitter.com/OTTHydrometry www.twitter.com/OTTHydrometry Sheffield S9 2RX Tel: 01246 573 480 Fax: 01246 813 873 Email: uksales@ott.com Web: www.ott.com www.twitter.com/OTTHydrometry www.twitter.com/OTTHydrometry Tel: 01246 573 480 Fax: 01246 813 873 Email: uksales@ott.com Web: www.ott.com www.twitter.com/OTTHydrometry www.twitter.com/OTTHydrometry

T-Shirts Change Colour in the Wash Based On Water Pollution

Pop them in the washing machine to see how pollution has affected your city’s pH levels.

London-based material design studio The Unseen has a way of infusing products with a bit of magic – from its witchy colour-changing hair dye to hyper-colour fashion pieces. The studio’s latest release is more down to earth, though no less enchanting: cabbage-dyed T-shirts that change colour in the wash, based on your city’s water pollution.

That means the T-shirts, made in collaboration with British lifestyle company The Lost Explorer, will come out of the washing machine differently in London than they will in New York or Buenos Aires. The shirts start out a deep purple, thanks to a homemade cabbage juice dye.

But as you may recall from school science class, cabbage is also a natural pH indicator. It will turn red, pink, or magenta in acids and blue, green, and yellow in alkaline solutions.

The pH level of water is also an indicator of how much it is polluted. Emissions from mining and smelting operations or fossil fuel combustion can make water become more acidic. Wastewater discharge that contains detergents and soap-based products does the same thing. In general, a water source’s pH fluctuations are typically related to pollution in the air, soil, or directly into the water.

Lauren Bowker, the founder of The Unseen, and David de Rothschild, founder of The Lost Explorer, decided to adapt this natural pH indicator to garments. The colourchanging T-shirts they created are part of a campaign in conjunction with World Environment Day to raise awareness of climate change. While the T-shirts are not available for purchase, the pair made a how-to video with step-by-step instructions for how to make your own. www. seetheunseen.co.uk

@ConEquipAssocia @PlantworxPR

12 remmag.com

Certified performance from portable & fixed multigas FTIR analyzers

The Gasmet CEMS II e is EN 15267-3 certified for the simultaneous analysis of 13 gases including HF and formaldehyde

simple to install & operate low operating costs automatic calibration proven reliability worldwide

Applications: Power generation Waste incineration Cement production Carbon capture

Gasmet Technologies Oy Pulttitie 8 A 00880 Helsinki FINLAND Tel: +358 9 759 00 400 email: contact@gasmet.fi www.gasmet.com

Award-winning Network Rail infrastructure project brings biodiversity to Bermondsey The construction of the Bermondsey Dive Under, a new railway junction to the east of London Bridge station, has increased biodiversity in the urban area of Bermondsey by 113%, winning the team a coveted CEEQUAL ‘Excellent’ award of 96.6%.v The Bermondsey Dive Under, part of the Thameslink Programme, is a joint project by Network Rail and partners Skanska and Ramboll to untangle the tracks approaching London Bridge station. Before it was built, train lines to Sussex and Kent criss-crossed over each other at a series of flat junctions, causing delays and limiting the number of trains that could travel per hour. The junction will allow designated lines for Southeastern trains to Kent and Southern trains to Sussex to ‘dive under’ new Thameslink lines from January 2018, reducing delays and increasing reliability for passengers.

The Thameslink Programme, part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan, is committed to increasing net

14 remmag.com

positive biodiversity on its projects. Prior to the beginning of construction in 2012, the Bermondsey site had limited botanical diversity and low conservation value; it was scattered with the previous tenant’s debris and the soil was heavily contaminated with asbestos, Japanese Knotweed and hydrocarbons.

The project removed over 21,900 tonnes of contaminated material and eradicated the Japanese Knotweed. To increase biodiversity, wildflower planting and green walls were installed to offset vegetation lost in the process of removing the contaminated soils. The project installed 765m2 of green walls under arches and access ramps, and planted wildflowers on the railway embankments to create green corridors and stepping stones to the wider area, leaving a fantastic legacy both environmentally and aesthetically for the local community. The team also carried out extensive community engagement, including upgrading the garden in the Lewisham Community

Centre, refurbishing a youth club in a local church and volunteering on the XLP youth charity bus.

Gerardo Austria, consents & sustainability manager, Network Rail, said: “On the Thameslink Programme, we continuously strive to improve upon sustainable excellence. The fantastic score of 96.6% is the result of our collaborative way of working to not only protect but enhance the environment and the community whilst delivering this complex project.”

Charl de Kock, project manager, Skanska, said: “It is great to receive such a high level of recognition from CEEQUAL for this complex and challenging project. We were able to achieve this excellent CEEQUAL score due to us embedding a sustainable approach from the design stage through to the delivery of the project. This success is testament to the commitment to sustainability from our client, Network Rail, our design partner, Ramboll, and all our other contracting partners and supply chain.

I would like to thank everyone involved with delivering

this very successful project.”

This Bermondsey Dive Under project award is the latest CEEQUAL achievement for the Thameslink Programme, building on an impressive achievement history: • London Bridge station redevelopment – Whole Team Award, Excellent (94.2%)

• Blackfriars Bridge and Station redevelopment – Whole Project Award, Excellent (92.4%)

• The Farringdon station redevelopment – Whole Project Award, Excellent (90.3%) • Borough Viaduct – Whole Project Award, Excellent (88.9%)

• Tanners Hill Flydown – Whole Project Award, Excellent (77.7%)

@networkrail facebook.com/networkrail

remmag.com 15

Stelco operations in Hamilton.

Bedrock Industries Completes Acquisition of Stelco

Stelco Inc. announces that all of the closing conditions regarding the previously announced transaction with Bedrock Industries Group LLC ("Bedrock Industries") have been satisfied and that the acquisition of the Company by Bedrock Industries has closed. Stelco had been operating under the protection of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") since being granted an initial stay of proceedings in September of 2014. The Company has now emerged from CCAA protection and has formally changed its name to Stelco Inc., formerly known as U.S. Steel Canada.

"This is an exciting day for Stelco and for all of those who have worked so hard to position this company for

16 remmag.com

success", said Alan Kestenbaum, Chairman, Bedrock Industries. "We would specifically like to recognize the unwavering efforts of Stelco's Board, the Company's leadership team and all of Stelco's employees. We would also like to recognize and thank the International United Steel Workers Union and its leadership, as well as the local 8782 and 1005 Union leadership and members. Today was also made possible by the unwavering support of Stelco's customers and suppliers. We are also grateful to the many external advisors to the Company and USW locals that worked tirelessly for an extended period."

"We are well aware of Stelco's storied history and the special position it holds in the hearts of those in

Credit: Stephen C. Host

the communities of Hamilton and Nanticoke in which it operates, and across Canada. As Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary, it is fitting that we are celebrating the rebirth of Stelco, a company that played an integral role in building the Nation, starting in 1910 as The Steel Company of Canada. We look forward to marking many more milestones in the coming years as we build this Canadian icon together."

Bill Aziz, Stelco’s chief restructuring officer, said it’s the first time he’s ever seen contaminated land sold to fund pensions.

He calls it an “innovative way to deal with the land” and a way to “provide additional funding for pensions” in

order to create value for retirees. The sale could not be finalized until details around land transfers and pensions were worked out.

Bedrock describes itself as a privately funded holding company focused on owning and operating metals, mining and natural resources assets and related special situations. @StelcoCanada

remmag.com 17

Geology Matters in Contaminated Land Management

Jane Dottridge, David Jones, & Paul Nathanail

Geology matters. It matters in all stages of risk-based management of contaminated soil and groundwater and features in all three components of the source-pathwayreceptor linkage. The ground beneath a site can be a source of natural or anthropogenic contamination.

Permeable strata or structures can act as pathways along which liquids, vapours or gases can migrate. Groundwater is a receptor to be protected under several legal contexts.

All remediation strategies – be they in situ or ex situ, source removal or pathway interruption – require a detailed understanding of the relevant aspects of the ground. Excavations need to have stable sides; floor heave and incoming water need to be controlled. Gas or vapour injection (e.g. for air sparging) or abstraction (e.g. for soil vapour extraction) require a well constrained conceptual model with respect to groundwater and preferential pathways. Monitored natural attenuation depends on the physical, chemical and biological processes affecting the evolution of contaminant plumes being well enough understood to demonstrate risks are being controlled.

Permeable reactive barriers need to be designed so that contaminant plumes flow through the treatment zone and not around or under the barrier.

18 remmag.com

The land contamination sector is a key part of the UK’s house building industry. While this sector is multidisciplinary, geologists are a very large part of the professional workforce. By far the largest professional background of Specialists in Land Condition (SiLC) are chartered geologists.

The Geological Society’s newest specialist group held its inaugural meeting on 29th March 2017. As the prime minister triggered Article 50 signalling the UK’s formal intent to leave the European Union, over 150 geoscientists gathered in Burlington House to hear Society President, Malcolm Brown formally open the activities of the new Contaminated Land Specialist Group. He says: "I'm pleased to see the Contaminated Land Group become the latest Geological Society specialist group. This is an area of growing importance and one where geologists can play an important role." Invited speakers from industry, regulators, academia and national bodies gave their perspectives on how the geosciences contribute to protecting public health and natural resources from contamination.

The Group’s first Chair, Jane Dottridge, reported that the launch of the group represented the outcome

First meeting of the Contaminated Land Specialist Group.

Jane Dottridge

David Jones

of over four years of behind the scenes work and had attracted a tremendous level of interest. More than 60 had volunteered for the group’s committee and the Burlington House lecture theatre was full to capacity.

The audience represented a wide range of contaminated land professionals: contractors, consultants, regulators and researchers from across the UK with varying levels of experience, from recent graduates to the seasoned experts who wrote the original guidance in the 1970s.

The group will communicate and collaborate with existing land contamination organisations, although the differentiators are geology and membership of a chartered professional institute.

Credit: The Geological Society of London

Paul Nathanail

Seamus Lefroy-Brooks delivered an invited keynote presentation that reflected over the past half century of emerging national and global awareness of the adverse impacts of land contamination. He observed that the inherent uncertainty in understanding the etymological link between exposure to environmental contaminants and adverse health impacts meant that a degree of over conservatism in decision making was unavoidable. He also noted that the science is in many ways sketchy, and that not everything could be blamed on the industrial revolution. He advised the audience to neither overreact nor to assume all is fine.

Paul Nathanail recalled the fundamental role played

remmag.com 19

by geologists such as Mike Smith, Sue Herbert and the late Colin Ferguson in formulating UK policy and practice in contaminated land management. He noted that the requirements for candidates for Chartered Geologist to demonstrate their understanding of the complexities of geology and of geological processes in space and time and of how to critically evaluate geoscience information to generate predictive models apply directly to riskbased contaminated land management. The conceptual site model needs to reflect the geology in terms of its role as a source of contamination, a pathway or barrier or as a receptor in its own right in the form of groundwater or geological sites of special scientific interest.

Ann Barker, giving a regulator’s perspective, reminded the audience that the contaminated land sector’s work makes a difference – by protecting public health and the environment. This is in large part due to an ethos of working together, continually striving to improve skills and share knowledge. Given the predominance of planning related work, the details of how to continue to make such differences in the context of “permission in principle” still need to be worked out.

Mark Cave gave a medical geology perspective on the effect of contaminated soil on human health. He reminded us of the British Geological Survey’s work on surveying natural and anthropogenic potentially harmful elements. BGS has also led work to characterise the effect of soil geochemistry on contaminant behaviour during exposure. Its work on bioaccessibility and bioavailability has been taken up by risk assessors in detailed quantitative risk assessments to ensure public health protection and avoid unnecessary remediation. He closed with a tantalising glimpse into a future where contaminant toxicity may be studied in silico using ‘organs on a chip’.

The meeting closed with a period of free and convivial discussion in the Lower Library.

The Geological Society’s Contaminated Land Specialist Group is rare in this country in having an Early Career subcommittee. Early career professionals are both the future and also the best ambassadors in attracting graduates into employment in an exciting and burgeoning area of work.

The Early Career sub-committee are organising our next major event, the Janet Watson Conference in November (www.geolsoc.org.uk/jwatson17). The conference series celebrates the contributions made by its namesake, Professor Janet Watson (1923-1985) – as an inspiration to young scientists, a champion of geoscience education, and the Society’s first female President. The conferences provide a platform to showcase the work of young professionals from across academia and industry, alongside presentations from role models in their sector with more longstanding experience

20 remmag.com

First meeting Contaminated Land Specialist Group 2.

Credit: The Geological Society of London

remmag.com 21

The standout event of the year for contamination professionals is coming to London’s ExCeL in September.

Running on the 27th and 28th, the Contamination Expo Series will showcase the latest strategies, techniques and technologies that further the protection of the environment and management of contaminated land, water and air.

Finding the solutions to protect our environment is an imperative that both private and public sector organisations from across the globe are growing increasingly concerned with, and for good reason.

Pollution affects more than 100 million people and is one of the biggest killers worldwide. More than one million seabirds and 100 million mammals die every year due to pollution too.

That’s why around 2,500 contamination professionals from as far afield as Japan and the US will attend the exhibition and transform the capital into the hub of the industry over two unmissable days.

This highly targeted audience will be made up of high profile visitors from some of the world’s largest and most relied-upon environmental organisations, as well as decision makers from major international airports, councils, specialist consultancies, construction firms and land and property owners.

22 remmag.com

These visitors all attend looking for that environmental innovation or piece of expert advice that will allow them to steal ground on their competitors and prevent and manage contamination more effectively than ever before.

The impressive profile of the show’s audience hasn’t gone unnoticed by some of the contamination industry’s most progressive and relied-upon suppliers, who have added their names to the growing roster of inventive organisations choosing to reveal their most recent offerings at this year’s show.

As well as getting the exciting opportunity to sell their existing products face-to-face to a room full of prospective buyers, they can also get immediate feedback from their target market on any new products launched directly to the environmental sector.

That’s why 150 environmental firms will once again make up an unparalleled lineup of supplier exhibitors, all looking to strike up partnerships with the show’s visitors to help them transform their business and the way they manage contamination projects.

Among the exhibitors are influential and well known names such as DEME Environmental, the Landmark Information Group, the LK Group, Exova Jones Environmental, Dynasafe International and many, many more.

The lineup of supplier exhibitors is only matched by the schedule of 120 expert-led seminars taking place across both days of the event.

Unrivalled in the depth of knowledge and information it offers its attendees, talking at the event will be the likes of ERM’s Dr Alan Thomas on innovating site characterisation to reduce project risks and lifecycle costs; In Situ’s Janice Hiller on using real-time monitoring to optimise groundwater remediation outcomes; and Dr Chris Evans on breakthrough of chlorinated solvent treatment at pharmaceutical sites.

What’s more, every seminar at the Contamination Expo Series is CPD-accredited. For visitors, this means that not only will they receive invaluable industry insight from its movers and shakers, but also coveted CPD points - making the show’s schedule of seminars perfect for all contamination professionals looking to add to both their skills and knowledge.

If all that doesn’t quite make the show mouthwatering enough, there is also a plethora of interactive masterclasses, one-to-one advice sessions and insightful real-life case studies, with the chance for visitors to question and pick

the brains of the industry’s major players, suppliers and influencers.

Moreover, this year’s Contamination Expo Series has put more emphasis on the areas that matter than ever before - firmly focussed on highlighting and demonstrating only the most efficient and cost-effective methods of preventing and handling contamination.

For the very first time, a visitor’s free ticket to the series will allow them to freely filter between six shows that are all specifically dedicated to a different contamination field: Land Remediation Expo, Spill Response Expo, Clean Air Technology Expo, Hazardous Materials Expo, Nuclear Decom Expo and Geotechnical Expo.

These six zones have been carefully crafted to ensure that each individual attendee is able to easily find the specialist knowledge and ingenious innovations most relevant to their contamination field, allowing them to make the most of their time at this action-packed event.

This means that any contamination professional - no matter which area they work in - will return from the show brimming with inspiration and new ideas on how

remmag.com 23

to prevent and manage contamination.

Attendees will also have access to the Flood Expo and Marine & Coastal Civil Engineering Expo located next door, which makes this the most comprehensive, exciting and influential exhibition and conference on the environmental sector calendar.

The growing reputation of the Contamination Expo Series is highlighted by the continued sponsorship from the Environment Agency - who will be offering advice, guidance, support and unrivalled networking opportunities for contamination, sustainability and environment professionals in the Environment Agency Networking Area.

The public body will also be leading a host of their own informative seminars across the two-day event, with special guest speakers including the likes of their invasive species specialist, Trevor Renals.

To top if off, the Contamination Expo Series Innovation Awards will also be returning to 2017’s event. The awards celebrate the most outstanding examples of cuttingedge equipment, products and services that have made the biggest impact on the contamination industry over the past 12 months.

With all this and more packed into one room - at the show that has become the home of innovation in the contamination field - you can’t afford to miss this event if your work, business or land depends on you identifying, preventing and managing potentially life-threatening and destructive contaminants MORE INFORMATION To find out more about what’s on offer at September’s Contamination Expo Series and to claim your free ticket, go to www.contaminationexpo.com

24 remmag.com

remmag.com 25

CASE STUDY

Phosphate monitor protects Cumbrian lake during restoration Nigel Grimsley, OTT Hydrometry All photography: OTT Hydrometry

Novel phosphate monitoring technology from OTT Hydrometry is helping the South Cumbria Rivers Trust (SCRT) to improve water quality during a project to restore a lake in the north of England. Funded by United Utilities, the Elterwater Remediation Project has been created to improve water quality by increasing water flow through the lake and dramatically lowering residency time.

BACKGROUND

Situated 2 km North West of Lake Windermere, Elterwater is a high amenity value lake comprised of three basins measuring 930m long with variable widths up to 320m. The Lake is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Between 1974 and 1999 United Utilities operated a wastewater treatment works serving the Elterwater village within the consents of the day. However this and other sources left a legacy of phosphorus enriched sediments in the inner and middle basins of the lake. These in turn caused eutrophic and hyper-eutrophic conditions leading to algal blooms, anoxia and poor water quality.

In the United Utilities asset management plan for April 2010 to March 2015 (AMP5) a study was commissioned that identified the key issues and options for resolution. These included improving the lake’s water quality by dredging to remove the phosphorus rich sediments or diverting two local becks to improve water turnover and prevent the conditions necessary for phosphorus release and the creation of algal blooms.

Dredging would permanently remove the phosphorus rich sediments but could cause significant environmental damage particularly in the disposal of the enriched sediments.

Consequently, the preferred solution is to divert the becks. Dr Mike Sturt SCRT’s Technical Officer explains: “Soluble Reactive Phosphate (SRP) released from the sediment accumulates over time and becomes bioavailable resulting in a proliferation of algae and bacteria, which causes a lowering of dissolved oxygen and 26 remmag.com

pH, which in turn causes an increase in SRP desorption from the sediment. So there is a complex cycle in play which causes thermal stratification and anoxic/high turbidity conditions in the summer months. As a result, Elterwater is incapable of supporting natural, healthy populations of fauna and flora beyond benthic invertebrates.”

PHOSPHATE MONITORING

Phosphate in the lake sediment is clearly the cause of the lake’s ongoing water quality problems, so the aim of the restoration project is to implement a sustainable solution that does not result in an increase in SRP within the water body. Background phosphate monitoring therefore commenced in August 2014 and samples have been taken at 2 week intervals for laboratory analysis. However, continuous monitoring is always preferable, when possible, because spot sampling risks missing pollution incidents.

Traditional continuous phosphate monitors employ colorimetry and generally require mains power, which is often not available at remote sites. However, the ‘Cycle-P’ from OTT Hydrometry is battery powered and able to operate unattended in the field, running over 1,000 tests before a field service is necessary to change the reagents. When combined with telemetry, the instrument delivers almost real-time data at user-selectable intervals (typically 1 to 4 hours). “The Cycle-P is ideal for Elterwater”, Mike says. “The lake is an hour’s drive each way from our office, so the facility to leave it running, but with remote access,

remmag.com 27

CASE STUDY saves a great deal of time and money."

“Initially, two Cycle-P units were installed at Elterwater, either side of the middle basin, but after 1 year of operation it became clear that one unit was sufficient – at the outlet of the inner basin.

“The performance of the Cycle-P has been excellent; it has proved to be accurate and reliable, producing good quality data that is consistent with laboratory analysis.”

The Cycle-P is an in-water total reactive phosphate analyser that has been designed for operation by both chemists and non-chemists.

The instrument has an onboard logger, and the quality of the data is underpinned by QA/QC processing in conjunction with an on-board NIST standard. The Cycle-P methodology is based on US EPA standard methods, employing pre-mixed onboard colour coded cartridges for simple reagent replacement in the field. With a detection limit equal to or less than 0.0023 mg/L PO4-P, and a range of 0-0.3 mg/L PO4-P the Cycle-P is able to measure down to extremely low levels, which makes it ideal for the Elterwater application. However, a higher range can be specified at the time of order (0 to 1.2 mg/L).

PROGRESS TO-DATE

The background monitoring undertaken by the Cycle-P (and lab samples) has not shown significant SRP in the water body because the release of phosphate from the sediment is quickly taken up by algae. However, the piped diversion of the Great Langdale Beck delivers around 122 litres/sec of very clean water, and the Cycle-P constantly checks that this is not causing a rise in SRP from the sediment. If alarm conditions arise, the system automatically sends a text message to Dr Sturt’s mobile phone. The Environment Agency has also installed a water quality monitor (DO, pH, EC, turbidity) at the same location and this also has a text alarm system.

Mike says: “The clean water from Great Langdale Beck started to arrive in the inner basin during early February 2016 and at the time of writing no alarms have occurred, so we are cautiously optimistic!” www.ott.com @OTTHydrometry 28 remmag.com

remmag.com 29

CASE STUDY

Treating wastewater as a resource Nigel Grimsley, OTT Hydrometry All photography: OTT Hydrometry

Some UK landfill operators are turning wastewater into a resource by utilising OTT monitoring and control systems to manage the irrigation of willow crops with pre-treated effluent. The willow is subsequently harvested and used for renewable energy generation.

BACKGROUND

Leachate from landfill sites represents a significant potential environmental liability, extending long into the future after a landfill site has closed. Conventional treatment and disposal options involve biological treatment and consented discharge to either the wastewater treatment network or to the environment. Alternatively, effluent may be collected by tanker for treatment and disposal off-site. However, to broaden the treatment options and improve environmental sustainability, work initiated in the 1990s developed an approach that sought to use effluent as a source of nutrients and water for a Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) crop planted on the restored landfill.

Following the success of early trials, the Environment Agency published a Regulatory Position Statement in 2008, which said: ‘SRC as part of a landfill leachate treatment process… is a technique (that) can be an environmentally acceptable option if managed appropriately.’

Early systems were operated and managed manually but with the addition of sensors, telemetry and control systems the process has been automated to optimise irrigation and maximise both the disposal of effluent and biomass yield.

Willow SRC has become increasingly popular in environmental restoration work, providing a cost-effective material for stabilisation and reclamation of disturbed landscapes, bioremediation and biomass production. SRC involves the planting of high yielding varieties of willow at a high density, typically 15,000 plants per hectare. The crop can be expected to last for around 30 years, with harvesting taking place every 3-5 years, and yields varying from 8 to 18 tonnes of dry woodchip per hectare per year.

Willow grows quickly and has a particularly 30 remmag.com

high demand for water, so it is ideal for the disposal of large volumes of treated effluent.

In addition, the high planting density results in the development of a dense root hair system, effectively creating a biological filter for the treatment of organic compounds and the absorption of nutrients and some heavy metals. In addition, soil fauna help to break down the effluents applied to the crop and soil particles control the availability of nutrients to the willow.

MONITORING AND CONTROL

In early schemes, irrigation was managed manually on a timed basis with irrigation quantities based on external estimates of evapotranspiration. However, improved levels of local monitoring and control are now possible. OTT’s Matthew Ellison explains: “The key objective is to supply the crop with an optimised amount of water, whilst minimising the requirement for on-site staff. Too much irrigation would cause run-off and too little would under-utilise the treated effluent and result in poor growth conditions which would affect yield and potentially threaten the crop.

“With our systems, an on-site weather station feeds local meteorological data to the system which uses crop information to predict evapotranspiration, and this is used to determine irrigation rates. Soil moisture sensors then check that soil moisture status is maintained at acceptable levels. Other sensors monitor the performance of the system, checking irrigation feed reservoir level and inpipe pressure, and there are sensors to check flow rates from the drip-feed irrigation. This communication capability is made possible with OTT’s Adcon Telemetry radio network.

“Our latest monitoring and control equipment automates the management of the

GPRS soil moisture station.

remmag.com 31

CASE STUDY system for unattended operation and staff are only required by exception. This means that the system is able to operate autonomously, delivering regular data reports, and staff are notified by email or text if alarm conditions occur.”

Emphasising the advantages of controlling the entire network, Matthew adds: “This system facilitates the ability to control and synchronise the main pump, and to open and close the valves at each irrigation zone.”

The latest OTT monitoring and control systems include: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Soil moisture sensors.

Irrigation tank level sensors.

Irrigation function check sensors.

Pipe valves and pressure sensors.

Automatic weather station (to calculate local evapotranspiration).

6. Radio telemetry.

7. ADCON Gateway and PC running addVANTAGE software.

8. Internet connectivity for remote log in.

SUMMARY

Looking back over a number of SRC projects, Stephen Farrow one of the instigators of this approach in the UK, and now an Independent Consultant says: “When viewed practically, environmentally and commercially, experience has demonstrated the viability of the overall approach.

“It is also clear that process optimisation with relatively low cost investment in OTT’s monitoring and control equipment has significantly added to the support functionality in terms of both operation and regulatory management.”

OTT’s Matthew Ellison agrees, adding: “SRC clearly offers a sustainable option for effluent treatment, with highly positive effects on carbon footprint and biodiversity. In addition to the environmental benefits, process automation has significantly reduced labour requirements and helped to demonstrate compliance with the site-specific requirements of the Environment Agency.” www.ott.com @OTTHydrometry 32 remmag.com

remmag.com 33

The Use of 3D Modelling for Environmental Site Assessment Reed Copsey

C Tech Development Corporation

We live in an age of 3D movies and TVs, which means that 99% of the population has an opinion about what 3D means.

However, most of them will be wrong.

It is not enough to make a 3D representation of something, if that representation is only skin deep.

34 remmag.com

remmag.com 35

When we are dealing with the redevelopment of Brownfields and other contaminated lands, we are working with data that is collected volumetrically. The simplest definition of volumetric data would be data that is collected at multiple elevations for any X-Y location.

To refine that further, we don’t really need the x and y coordinates to be the same, since they would not be if samples were collected along a boring that was not perfectly vertical. The assessment of volumetric is one that is simple and virtually irrefutable. If there is data not only on the surfaces of the model, but also within the model, it must be considered volumetric.

Since it is obvious that virtually all contaminated sites have volumetric data, and therefore must be modeled volumetrically, it is ironic that most “3D” software does not perform volumetric modeling.

VOLUMETRIC MODELING REQUIREMENTS For anyone ready to dive into true 3D volumetric modeling, the single most important requirement is that you have X, Y and Z coordinates for all your data. This is the steak and everything else is the parsley by comparison. When a prospective consulting client comes to us, there are many additional questions we ask to understand their data and their needs.

• •

• •

•

•

-

Do you have geologic information?

What type(s) of analytical data is available?

Soil contamination Groundwater contamination Detailed topography data Water table elevations Geophysics data (porosity, transmissivity, etc.)

How much data do you have?

What additional annotation data can you provide?

Aerial photos CAD maps, roads, pipelines, tanks or buildings GIS data What is the primary purpose of the model?

Communicate with your company team and/or management Communicate to the public Communicate with regulators Litigation support What form(s) of output do you want Images C Tech's 4D Interactive Models Bitmap Animations (e.g. AVI or MPEG) 3D PDFs Web published 3D models 3D Printed models

36 remmag.com

Clearly some of the above list is focused on collecting and compiling the data, whereas other questions allow us to determine the scope of a modeling project. Often, we can take a quick look at someone’s data in a couple hours, whereas a comprehensive study for litigation support on a multi-million-dollar lawsuit requires that we try to address every possible challenge that the opposing side might present.

ENVIRONMENTAL MODELLING Contamination of the environment, whatever the type, inherently is a three-dimensional geological issue.

Not only are the contaminants frequently distributed physically in three dimensions, but the processes by which the contamination was emplaced are almost always three-dimensional in nature. Additionally, designing remedial actions involves consideration of processes that must operate in 3D to be effective.

The use of three-dimensional volumetric modeling methods can be particularly powerful in such situations.

Site characterization involves the collection of geologic data, physical samples, and analytical data, all of which have specific 3D spatial positions. Conventional site characterization data represents point or relatively short interval sampling within a much larger geologic volume of material. Modeling is required to create a coherent 3D representation of the distribution of contaminants throughout a site, and the degree of confidence or uncertainty in that representation.

A major consideration, involved in most instances involving environmental contamination and remediation, is the conveying of complex, detailed technical information to non-technical audiences. The public and adjacent land owners are the most obvious examples.

Three-dimensional volumetric visualization methods are particularly useful for displaying the relationships among contaminant data, site infrastructure or processes potentially responsible for the contamination, the extent and bounds of inferred (but not yet sampled) contamination, and the remedial processes that may operate to remove or minimize residual contamination after site cleanup is completed. The ability to display these different types of information separately and to integrate them into a coherent visual picture of the entire system are also important within the regulatory and legal arenas.

This coastal facility contaminated the groundwater near the mouth of a stream near an active coastal waterway. The geology’s affect on the contaminant flow is evident in the shape of the plume.

Soil contamination at an historic railyard dates back to the days when engine oil was dumped on the tracks to reduce dust and cleaning solvent was poured down the drains. In this model we are showing Total Hydrocarbon soil levels in the stratigraphic layers.

remmag.com 37

CAD VS. DATA DRIVEN MODELLING Our software is neither CAD (Computer Aided Design) nor graphics software, both of which involve drawing. The models we create are data driven. There is virtually no drawing involved in creating our 3D models, though you can draw the 2D & 3D paths along which you wish to cut, tunnel or otherwise subset models. What we mean by “data driven” is that the data creates the model, and though the modeler makes many choices about the modeling processes, those choices don’t require drawing. The data determines the nature, quality and level of refinement that should be employed in the model, and we utilize geostatistics to quantify the estimates, confidence and potential variability in that model.

We make it easy to incorporate 3D CAD models, GIS data, aerial photos and/or photographic textures on geologic materials, but we consider this additional data as model enhancements or annotations, since they don’t influence the volume of contaminant plumes or the distribution of contaminants in a geologic unit.

VOLUMETRIC MODELLING JUSTIFICATION: We have always believed that the rationale and requirement for 3D Volumetric modeling is stunningly obvious: • • • •

The sites we are modeling are volumetric The contaminant spills are volumetric The data we collect to characterize the contamination is volumetric All remediation methods, ranging from in-situ bioremediation, to pump-and-treat, to excavation are all volumetric.

ANALYTICALLY GUIDED SITE ASSESSMENT Remediation cannot begin without proper site characterization. In the U.S., many sites are tagged as Brownfields based on their history and/or obvious site characteristics, such as rusted oil barrels strewn about.

However, many of these sites have not had any actual site characterization, and therefore their true status and degree of contamination may be unknown. Even when limited characterization has been performed, the hottest spots on the site and the full nature of the contamination is rarely known. For over 20 years, C Tech’s DrillGuide© technology has been used to quantify site uncertainty, and determine where it is most efficient to collect additional samples to reduce that uncertainty and the corresponding statistical variation in the volume of the estimated contaminant plume. We refer to this process as analytically guided site assessment, and it has been proven to provide the lowest cost data collection and highest quality characterization of site contamination.

A DrillGuide© analysis uses geostatistics (kriging) to analyze all currently available samples at the site. When kriging is used to perform estimation, the standard deviation throughout the site is also determined.

Standard deviation will be zero at the sampled locations

38 remmag.com

HANFORD SITE

There are literally thousands of contaminated sites worldwide where C Tech’s software has helped guide Site Assessment efforts and aided in understanding the contamination and planning and executing the cleanup efforts. These range from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, which is arguably the worst environmental disaster in the United States, to hundreds of small Brownfield sites like corner gas stations or dry cleaners.

remmag.com 39

and will increase as you move into areas away from measured samples. DrillGuide© assesses the distribution of predicted concentrations and standard deviations to determine the locations at the site where the concentration is predicted to be high, but the confidence in that prediction is low. It selects the optimal location for the next sample using this information and then creates a synthetic sample for that location and repeats the process.

To help explain this complex process, we present two images from a two-dimensional DrillGuide© analysis.

We can perform this analysis in 2D or 3D, but we present the results from a 2D analysis here since it is simpler and a bit easier to understand. Below is the 2D characterization of a site with Diesel contamination. The surface is colored by concentration and there are three contour lines. The outer dark red line is the largest the 200 mg/kg plume is predicted to be with an 80% confidence, and the inner blue line is the smallest it might be with an 80% confidence. The green line in between is the nominal plume. In a well characterized site, these three lines would be nearly coincident.

After 50 cycles of DrillGuide©, which yields 50 new locations for sampling, the deviation between these three contours is significantly reduced, demonstrating a dramatic improvement in the quality of the site assessment.

There are literally thousands of contaminated sites worldwide where C Tech’s software has helped guide Site Assessment efforts and aided in understanding the contamination and planning and executing the cleanup efforts. These range from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, which is arguably the worst environmental disaster in the United States, to hundreds of small Brownfield sites like corner gas stations or dry cleaners.

During our 28-year history, there have been tremendous advances in data collection methodology both for geophysical data, such as 3D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), but also for quantitative measurements of soil and groundwater contamination.

MIP (Membrane Interface Probe) technology transformed the environmental industry. Where we typically would have 3-8 samples down each boring location, MIP provides hundreds or even thousands.

In a perfect world, we would like to have our samples collected with relatively uniform spacing in X, Y & Z. Even when we had only a few samples down each boring, the spacing between these samples in a boring was generally much less than the distance between borings. This meant that our data was clustered in the borings. With MIP technology, this clustering or oversampling becomes

40 remmag.com

remmag.com 41

extreme and tends to break the standard numerical methods used in traditional geostatistics (e.g. kriging) codes. Since MIP is so common in our industry, C Tech has enhanced our kriging algorithms to handle this issue as shown in the model (right).

BEYOND SITE ASSESSMENT Once the nature and extent of contamination at a site has been determined, additional 3D volumetric modeling is often required either to design a remediation process that will be effective in addressing the remediation requirements, to monitor the progress of the remediation process, or both.

During the remediation process, it is important to perform regular monitoring of the site to confirm the remediation progress and watch for anomalies. For example, during a pump-and-treat remediation (which involves extracting contaminated groundwater, treating the contaminated water, and then reinjecting it into the aquifer), if the mass of contaminants removed during treatment exceeds the reduction in contaminant mass observed during regular site monitoring, then it is likely that the original site assessment failed to identify some regions of high concentrations at the site. This means that the extraction well design may be spreading unidentified high concentration regions across areas of the site that may have been clean.

Some examples of other issues that need to be identified and addressed during remediation include: • • •

Groundwater plume migration due to seepage velocity In-situ bio-remediation Impact of site geology on remediation

CONCLUSION We live in a three-dimensional volumetric world, and it is inappropriate to compromise the modelling of contaminated sites by using software that cannot deal with the volumetric nature of the problem

MORE INFORMATION www.ctech.com www.sketchfab.com/ctech

42 remmag.com

remmag.com 43

For many years we have heard of the potential for heavy metals and PCBs to be present in the fish that we eat from historic industrial practices and dumping directly into water bodies. We are now discovering additional threats that have yet to be addressed, unregulated pharmaceuticals in our fish and game.

44 remmag.com

The Unregulated Discharge of Pharmaceuticals in Sewerage Capt Michael J. Pierdinock, LSP, CHMM Lightship Engineering

remmag.com 45

Unregulated pharmaceuticals enter into the ecosystem indirectly from septic systems into the groundwater and direct discharges from sewerage treatment plants into fresh and saltwater environments. Sewage treatment plants are not currently designed to remove the everyday pharmaceuticals and personal care products that we humans consume and use that include antibiotics, antidepressants, and pain killers to name a few. Pharmaceutical sewer discharges are currently not regulated by the USEPA nor State regulatory agencies.

Below are some recent studies and findings which may be the initial platform to bring this alarming issue to a national level.

A recent study in the journal Environmental Pollution found unusually high levels of drugs like Advil, Benadryl, Prozac, and even birth control pills, in the tissue of Chinook salmon studied in Puget Sound.1 The source of the Puget Sound pharmaceuticals was the discharge of treated sewerage from one hundred and six (106) sewerage treatment plants. The study only focused on two (2) of the wastewater treatment plants which reported 81 pharmaceuticals and personal-care products out of 150 compounds tested. According to Mr. James Meador, the leading author of the study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), about 45 of the compounds were found in the Chinook salmon sampled, some at high concentrations. The Chinook salmon stock in Pugent Sound continues to struggle are pharmaceuticals the culprit?

Studies performed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have found male smallmouth and largemouth bass in parts of the Northeast with characteristics of the opposite sex. The study conducted in nineteen (19) national wildlife refuges found 85% of smallmouth bass and 27% of male largemouth bass were intersex, meaning they found immature eggs in the gonads of the male fish.2 According to Luke Iwanowicz, USGS research biologist, the intersexing is from an exposure to estrogens and other endocrine disrupting chemicals. It was further found that the intersex fishes have a reduced ability for the species to reproduce and these chemicals may also weaken the immune systems

46 remmag.com

making them vulnerable to diseases.3 Another study by the USGS conducted from 1995 to 2004 from sites along the Apalachicola, Colorado, Columbia, Mobile, Mississippi, Pee Dee, Rio Grande, Savannah, and Yukon River basins found a third of all male smallmouth bass and a fifth of all male largemouth bass were intersex.4 Canada's federal fisheries agency added a synthetic estrogen found in birth control pills to a remote isolated lake in northwestern Ontario, Canada. The researchers added estrogen at levels found in municipal wastewaters over a three year period. Exposure to the compounds impacted the fish’s ability to reproduce. Male minnows were producing egg proteins in the first year, by the second year their sperm cells were undeveloped. Two years after the researchers stopped adding the estrogen the minnow population failed to recover. The study ultimately concluded that even “Low concentrations of an estrogen can have very dramatic, very severe effects on fish reproduction and fish population (Karen Kidd)" and could cause wild fish populations to collapse.5 Other studies in Colorado and the Potomac River looking at fish species up and downstream of sewage treatment plant euents found reproductive abnormalities in fish downstream of discharge points. It is believed that the male fish are being feminized from the estrogenic chemicals which were detected in the waters.6 Detectable levels of hormones and antidepressants are also found in surface water of Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket sound as well as groundwater on Cape Cod7.

In 2012, the Center for Coastal Studies conducted a study of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in the Cape Code Bay ecosystem and in 2013 expanded the study to include Nantucket Sound. The studies specifically targeted sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, carbamazepine, acetaminophen and caffeine (humans are the only source of these types of contaminants).

The studies indicated that the coastal waters have been impacted8.

It is somewhat concerning that pharmaceuticals are being detected in Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod Bay. The mass loading of pharmaceuticals needs to be astounding in order to be detected in these large

One has to

be somewhat concerned that we may be ingesting groundwater from private or public wells that have hormones or a wide range of pharmaceuticals.

Credit: Michael J. Pierdinock

remmag.com 47

Credit: Michael J. Pierdinock

water bodies. Thousands of gallons of treated water potentially containing unregulated pharmaceuticals is being discharged daily to our waters from the Deer Island/Boston Harbor Sewerage treatment plant and other permitted sewerage treatment plants.

Recently the local shellfish beds were shutdown due to a substantial bloom of a potentially toxic kind of phytoplankton termed pseudo-nitzschia. The source of toxic plume is not understood. Could pharmaceuticals be the culprit?

Studies at Silent Spring Cape Cod discovered that PhACs from septic systems are leaching into the groundwater and then into local ponds. These chemicals were also detected in private drinking water wells. It is believed that the detected chemicals most likely came from the backyard septic systems used by 85% of residents on Cape Cod who rely on septic systems for treatment of household waste9.

One has to be somewhat concerned that we may be ingesting groundwater from private or public wells that have hormones or a wide range of pharmaceuticals.

Don’t we see the younger generation maturating at a much younger age? Is this attributed to the ingestion

48 remmag.com

of hormones that accelerates puberty from our drinking water and food? We also see regionally younger maturity in some fish, observations such as the Bluefin tuna stock in the Mediterranean reach sexual maturity at a much younger age than that found in the Gulf of Mexico stock.

Is this attributed to the ingestion of hormones that can result in such changes and wouldn't be surprised of such in the Mediterranean? Areas where fish, game and habitat struggle to rebound that are attributed to unknown “environmental factors� may be a result of pharmaceutical compounds. We are finding that certain fishery stocks continue to not rebound appropriately after utilizing typical fishery management techniques. Are impacts from human pharmaceuticals causing adverse developmental, reproductive and neurological impacts to our fish and game, by hindering metabolic function, impacting a fish's growth, or exposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria and possibly altering lifesaving behavior of fish and game including the basic flight or fight response?

There are continued concerns of why the habitat associated with the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary has not rebounded with the closure of the area to commercial dragging for over 15 years. Other marine

How does exposure to such pharmaceuticals impact fish and game, as well as humans

that consume fish and game?

Credit: Michael J. Pierdinock

Credit: Michael J. Pierdinock

fisheries areas which were closed off to commercial draggers have observed a rebound of fish populations but not at Stellwagen Bank. Is the discharge from the Boston/Deer Island Sewerage Treatment outfall the culprit resulting in a detrimental impact on sensitive habitat as a result of the unregulated discharge of pharmaceuticals?

Needless to say there appears to be some compelling evidence that pharmaceuticals and hormones are having a detrimental impact on the environment. Shellfish and finfish in our waters are potentially being exposed to unregulated pharmaceuticals. How does exposure to such pharmaceuticals impact fish and game as well as humans that consume fish and game? As a result we are potentially ingesting a wide range of pharmaceuticals from antidepressants to antibiotics through consumption of fish and game. Why are we slow to address this matter?

The Chinook salmon peer review study conducted in Pugent Sound appears to be the study that has alarmed the research community and regulators that will hopefully result in promptly addressing this matter further. Hopefully adequate studies are forthcoming to determine the true source of these problems in order to take appropriate actions before it is too late

1

2

3

4 5 6 7 8

9

https://news.vice.com/article/seattle-area-salmonare-loaded-with-anti-depressants-and-other-drugsthanks-to-human-waste https://www.usgs.gov/news/intersex-prevalentblack-bass-inhabiting-national-wildlife-refugesnortheast https://www.usgs.gov/news/intersex-prevalentblack-bass-inhabiting-national-wildlife-refugesnortheast https://archive.usgs.gov/archive/sites/www.usgs.gov/ newsroom/article.asp-ID=2305.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ news/2007/05/070521-sex-fish.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ news/2004/11/1103_041103_potomac_fish.html http://phys.org/news/2016-01-drugs-contaminantsprivate-wells-cape.html#jCp http://coastalstudies.org/programs/capecod-bay-monitoring-program/monitoringprojects/contaminants-of-emerging-concern/ pharmaceuticals-in-the-waters-of-cape-cod-bayand-nantucket-sound/ http://www.silentspring.org/sites/default/files/ Emerging-contaminants-private-wells.pdf

MORE INFORMATION www.lightshipengineering.com

remmag.com 49

50 remmag.com

The Process of Effective Soil and Sediment Investigation Reidar Zapf-Gilje & Guy Patrick GeoEnviroPro

remmag.com 51

Many contaminated site remediation projects have failed to meet their technical goals and objectives because of an inadequate or incomplete understanding of site conditions.

Particularly in urban environments, many if not most sites encounter costly surprises during remediation as a consequence of a long history of past industrial use. On land, oil-filled wood stave culverts, abandoned underground solvent tanks, and buried rock pits are some of the more common examples we have encountered. In marine sediments, we often encounter issues such as sunken vessels, abandoned gear and debris, and wood waste.

THE CONCEPTUAL SITE MODEL These issues become surprises when they are not identified a priori or are not foreseen as possibilities by adequate environmental site investigation. Good environmental site characterization is a scientific process that begins with the compilation of historical and current site information, and re-configuration of that information within the framework of a conceptual site model (CSM; Figure 2). The CSM is a visual representation and narrative description of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the site, as well as the anthropogenic and natural activities, events and processes that occurred historically at the site over time.

An effective CSM should be able to tell the story of how the site became contaminated, how the contamination was (and is currently) being transported, where the contamination will ultimately end up, and whom it may affect (i.e., receptors). As illustrated by the iterative circle in Figure 2, the CSM is continually updated and modified as new information is obtained and forms the basis for investigation work plans until the CSM is considered sufficiently robust for remedial design.

INVESTIGATION APPROACHES The conventional approach to investigation typically involves the use of standard investigation tools (e.g., test pits, boreholes, monitoring wells) and collection of media samples for analysis by a fixed laboratory. The process may be expedited using the “Triad Approach”, where field analytical methods are used and information is interpreted in the field by experienced professionals.

52 remmag.com

Real-time decisions are made based on an increased amount of useful information collected, often resulting in lower overall costs and reduced timelines. Through the “Triad Approach”, larger quantities of less precise data are often acquired rapidly to more fully develop the CSM, compared to the much slower conventional approach where a smaller number of more analytically precise data is acquired.

FIGURE 2

The iterative site investigation process

FIGURE 1A

Underground dry cleaning solvent tank encountered during indoor $2,000,000 remedial excavation.

FIGURE 1B

Sunken vessel identified by multi-beam sonar survey during marine sediment characterization study.

Credit: CRA Canada Surveys

remmag.com 53

SOIL CHARACTERIZATION Site investigations usually involve collection of representative samples of one or more environmental media including soil, rock, groundwater, surface water, soil vapour, air and sediment. Soil investigations involve identifying and characterizing the contamination at the appropriate scale in terms of spatial extent (laterally and vertically), the potential to serve as a source of contamination for other media, and intrinsic soil properties that may serve to attenuate the contamination or otherwise assist in determining optimal remedial approaches. Contaminated soil has some important characteristics that are different from

Where relatively small hotspots are suspected, several step-out samples evenly spaced in a radial pattern (i.e., spokes of a wheel) are typically used for delineation purposes. that of contaminated groundwater and soil vapour.

These differences must be considered by the CSM and investigation strategy. Contamination in soil is often highly variable over relatively small distances. Whereas organic chemicals in groundwater tend to form plumes in a relatively predictable manner, soil contamination may be discontinuous and dispersed, depending on the contamination source. Another key difference relates to the changes in chemistry that may take place over time which, in soil, tend to be slow and generally inconsequential.

Good sampling design for soil characterization depends on the nature of the contamination and the size of the contaminated area. The three most prevalent sampling designs are judgemental, systematic grid sampling and transect sampling.

Systematic grid sampling (see Figure 3) is often used to provide broad coverage of an area of suspect contamination such as imported fill material. Where relatively small hot-spots are suspected, several step-out samples evenly spaced in a radial pattern (i.e., spokes of a wheel) are typically used for delineation purposes. Transect sampling is sometimes used where concentrations are suspected to decrease with distance from a source zone, following a somewhat predictable pattern. During the field program, adherence to a rigid sampling program is sometimes not warranted, as sampling may be better guided using the results of real-time field measurement technologies and observations.

54 remmag.com

There are two common and basic methods for obtaining representative soil samples below ground surface: 1) excavation of test pits, and 2) drilling of boreholes. Test pits can be excavated by hand or with hand tools to shallow depths (about 1 m or less) or by machine (e.g., excavator) to greater depths (typically to depths of 3 m to 5 m). An advantage of test pits over drilled boreholes is that more soil is exposed, enabling better visual inspection of soil horizons and possible contamination zones, and collection of a larger volume of soil sample.

The disadvantages of test pits include greater disturbance to the site surface, the limited sampling depth, and an inappropriate means to install groundwater or soil vapour monitoring wells. The drilling of boreholes allows for soil sampling at greater depths and for the installation of monitoring wells for groundwater sampling.

FIGURE 3

Systematic Grid Sampling

SEDIMENT CHARACTERIZATION Unlike soil sampling, sediment sampling presents unique challenges. Aquatic systems are less well understood than soil systems, mainly because sediments have limited accessibility. In addition, sediments are inherently dynamic, requiring assessment over time to identify and characterize changes in physical and chemical composition and biota. These changes are caused by

The dynamic nature and unique physicochemical properties of sediment requires the use of specific sampling equipment and defined sample acquisition and handling procedures.

MORE INFORMATION www.geoenviropro.com Twitter: @GETPro_Info

FIGURE 4

Possible scenario to stratify sampling stations at a disposal site receiving 45,000m3

natural (e.g., spring freshet in rivers; tidal forcing) or anthropogenic (e.g., propeller wash) forces, which can affect sediment contaminant transport and increase the difficulty of defining the spatial extent of contamination.

The dynamic nature and unique physicochemical properties of sediment requires the use of specific sampling equipment and defined sample acquisition and handling procedures.

As with soil investigations, the sediment investigation process starts with CSM, and is iterative. Because the samples are costly to acquire, a common pitfall is the collection of too few sediment samples. Regardless of the number of sediment samples collected, it is essential that the samples are representative and that data obtained from these samples are of high quality. The sediment sampling design process typically consists of a site reconnaissance, the delineation of the study area, the identification of reference area (usually required as part of an ecological risk assessment), selection of sediment sampling approaches, selection of sampling stations, and the determination of the number of samples. A typical sampling design to characterize an area where dredged sediment has been deposited is shown in Figure 4.

Sediment sampling devices suitable for sediment characterization studies fall into two types: 1) discrete surface samplers, which are typically used to collect surface sediment (and infauna benthos) for the areal evaluation of sediment characteristics and contaminant distributions; and 2) core samplers, which are typically used to sample sediments where the vertical distribution of sediment type and contaminants is important. The challenge for both sampling methods is access, and often involves deployment from dedicated watercraft.

CONCLUDING REMARKS Ultimately, the succvessful investigation of contaminated sites requires a full dataset and the collaborative problemsolving skills of experienced practitioners in order to develop a robust CSM that will guide the remedial selection process and implementation.

Education in science and engineering frequently neglects practical approaches to solving real-world issues.

These practitioners may have some formal academic training in environmental engineering or applied science, but probably gained most of their insight from “on-thejob� hard-earned experience. Education in science and engineering frequently neglects practical approaches to solving real-world issues. To fill this need, experiential technical courses and on-line training webinars are emerging that have been designed to engage the practitioner as a team player in solving simple to complex problems using real and synthetic data sets to explain and underpin key concepts and processes.

Professional development training can help achieve success in remediation by providing practical insights from experienced practitioners MORE INFORMATION www.geoenviropro.com Twitter: @GETPro_Info

remmag.com 55

Credit: Joel Gustafsson

56 remmag.com

The ‘ins and outs’ of air quality Jim Mills

Air Monitors Ltd.

remmag.com 57

Following the publication of the government’s draft plans to tackle urban air pollution and other publications such as the guidance from NICE on ‘Air pollution - outdoor air quality and health’, Jim Mills, Managing Director of Air Monitors Ltd, explains why there will need to be more funding for monitoring if mitigation measures are to be implemented effectively. Jim also highlights the close relationship between outdoor air quality and the (often ignored) problems with indoor air quality.

In recent years ClientEarth has successfully challenged the government’s air quality proposals in the High Court, and has called for drastic improvements to the draft plan which the government reluctantly published just before the last election. The High Court ordered Defra to produce a final Air Quality Plan by the end of July 2017, but there are major concerns that the plan will fail to bring UK urban air quality in line with EU limits within an acceptable time period.

The NICE guidelines are being developed for Local Authority staff working in: transport, planning, air quality management and public health. The guidance is also relevant for staff in healthcare, employers, education professionals and the general public. Covering roadtraffic-related air pollution and its links to ill health, the guidelines aim to improve air quality and so prevent a range of health conditions and deaths. Unfortunately, on the day that the draft guideline was published, most of the national media focused on one relatively minor recommendation relating to speed bumps: ‘Where physical measures are needed to reduce speed, such as humps and bumps, ensure they are designed to minimise sharp decelerations and consequent accelerations’.

Measures to encourage ‘smooth driving’ are outlined; however, the guidelines also address a wide range of other issues, which, in combination, would help tackle urban air pollution.

58 remmag.com

Public sector transport services should implement measures to reduce emissions, but this is an area that could involve the greatest financial cost.

Many local authorities would doubtless comment that they are already implementing many of the guideline recommendations, but refer to budgetary constraints on issues that involve upfront costs. Pressure is mounting therefore on the UK government to increase funding for measures that will have a significant effect on urban air pollution. In particular, there is a need to address the emissions from diesel vehicles which are responsible for high levels of particulates and nitrogen dioxide in the UK’s towns and cities.

The NICE guidelines recommend the inclusion of air quality issues in new developments to ensure that facilities such as schools, nurseries and retirement homes are located in areas where pollution levels will be low.

Local Authorities are also urged to consider ways to mitigate road-traffic-related air pollution and consider using the Community Infrastructure Levy for air quality monitoring. There are also calls for information on air quality to be made more readily available.

Local Authorities are also being urged to consider introducing clean air zones, including progressive targets to reduce pollutant levels below the EU limits, and where traffic congestion contributes to poor air quality consideration should be given to a congestion charging

remmag.com 59

The NICE guidelines recommend the inclusion of air quality issues in new developments to ensure that facilities such as schools, nurseries and retirement homes are located in areas where pollution levels will be low. Local Authorities are also urged to consider ways to mitigate road-traffic-related air pollution and consider using the Community Infrastructure Levy for air quality monitoring. zone. The guidelines also highlight the importance of monitoring to measure the effects of these initiatives.

As part of the consultation process, NICE is looking for evidence of successful measures and specifically rules out “studies which rely exclusively on modelling”.

In summary, all of the initiatives referred to in the NICE report necessitate monitoring in order to be able to measure their effectiveness. However, most Local Authorities do not currently possess the monitoring capability to do so. This is because localised monitoring would be necessary before and after the implementation of any initiative. Such monitoring would need to be continuous, accurate and web-enabled so that air pollution can be monitored in real-time. AQMesh is therefore the ideal solution; small, lightweight, quick and easy to install, these air quality monitors are able to monitor all the main pollutants, including particulates, simultaneously, delivering accurate data wirelessly via the internet.

Whilst AQMesh ‘pods’ are very significantly lower in cost both to buy and to run than traditional reference stations, they still represent a ‘new’ cost. However any additional costs are trivial in comparison with the costs associated with the adverse health effects caused by poor air quality, as evidenced in the recent report from the Royal College of Physicians.

INSIDE OUT OR OUTSIDE IN? At the recent Air Quality & Emissions show AQE 2017, the Conference speakers were asked about the ‘elephant in the room’, by a delegate referring to the government’s consultation. However, in response Prof. Rod Jones from the University of Cambridge said: “I thought you might be referring to indoor air quality.”

Clearly, urgent action is required to address the problem of outdoor air pollution, but most people assume that they are safe from pollution when they are indoors or in a car, but sadly that is not often the case.

60 remmag.com

The effects of air pollution are finally becoming better known, but almost all of the publicity focuses on outdoor air pollution. In contrast, indoor air quality is rarely in the media, except following occasional cases of Carbon Monoxide poisoning or when ‘worker lethargy’ or ‘sick building syndrome’ are addressed. However, it is important to understand the relationship between outdoor air quality and indoor air quality. Air Monitors is currently involved in a number of projects in which air quality monitoring is being undertaken both outside and inside large buildings, and the results have been extremely interesting.

The ‘Fidas Frog’, a new fine dust aerosol spectrometer developed by the German company Palas

Poorly ventilated offices tend to suffer from increased Carbon Dioxide as the working day progresses, leading to worker lethargy. In many cases HVAC systems bring in ‘fresh’ air to address this issue, but if that fresh air is in a town or city, it is likely to be polluted – possibly from particulates if it is not sufficiently filtered and most likely from Nitrogen Dioxide. Ventilating with outdoor air from street level is most likely to bring air pollution into the office, so many inlets are located at

remmag.com 61

Clearly, urgent action is required to address the problem of outdoor air pollution, but most people assume that they are safe from pollution when they are indoors or in a car, but sadly that is not often the case.

Photo credit: Fulvio Spada

62 remmag.com

roof level. However, data from recent studies indicate that the height of the best air quality can vary according to the weather conditions, so it is necessary to utilise a ‘smart’ system that monitors air quality at different levels outside the building, whilst also monitoring at a variety of locations inside the building. Real-time data from a smart monitoring network then informs the HVAC control system, which should have the ability to draw air from different inlets if available and to decide on ventilation rates depending on the prevailing air quality at the inlets. This allows the optimisation of the internal CO2, temperature and humidity whilst minimising the amount of external pollutants brought into the indoor space. In circumstances where the outside air may be too polluted to be used to ventilate, it can be pre-cleaned by scrubbing the pollutant gases in the air handling system before being introduced inside the building.

The implementation of smart monitoring and control systems for buildings is now possible thanks to advances in communications and monitoring technology. AQMesh pods can be quickly and easily installed at various heights outside buildings and further units can be deployed internally, all feeding near-live data to a central control system.

Another example of indoor air quality monitoring instrumentation developing from outdoor technology is the ‘Fidas Frog’, a new fine dust aerosol spectrometer developed by the German company Palas. The Frog is an indoor, wireless, battery-powered version of the hugely popular TÜV and MCERTS certified Fidas 200. Both

instruments provide simultaneous determination of PM fractions, particle number and particle size distribution, including the particle size ranges PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10 and TSP. Evidence of outdoor air pollution contaminating indoor air can be obtained with the latest Black Carbon monitors that can distinguish between the different optical signatures of combustion sources such as diesel, biomass, and tobacco. The new microAeth® MA200 for example, is a compact, real-time, wearable (400g) Black Carbon monitor with built-in pump, flow control, data storage, and battery with onboard GPS and satellite time synchronisation. Samples are collected on an internal filter tape and wireless communications are provided for network or smartphone app integration and connection to other wireless sensors. The MA200 is able to monitor continuously for 2-3 weeks. Alternatively, with a greater battery capacity, the MA300 is able to provide 3-12 months of continuous measurements.

In summary, a complete picture of indoor air quality can be delivered by a combination of AQMesh for gases, the Palas Frog for particulates and the microAeth instruments for Black Carbon. All of these instruments are compact, battery-powered, and operate wirelessly, but most importantly, they provide both air quality data AND information on the likely source of any contamination, so that the indoor effects of outdoor pollution can be attributed correctly MORE INFORMATION www.airmonitors.co.uk Facebook: AirMonitors Twitter: @airmonitors

The new microAeth® MA200 is a compact, real-time, wearable (400g) Black Carbon monitor with built-in pump, flow control, data storage, and battery with onboard GPS and satellite time synchronisation.

remmag.com 63

Recent Advances in Slope Stability Analysis Robert Pyke Ph.D., G.E..

64 remmag.com

Slope stability analyses are among the most basic of geotechnical analyses and they have remained essentially unchanged for over 50 years. To be sure, as computer technology has advanced the available computer programs have come to offer more and more options and nicer graphics, but the underlying methodology has not changed. Part of the justification for this is that slopes designed using these programs that meet standard factors of safety usually seem to work. In fact, the writer knows of few if any cases where a slope stability calculation itself has led to a failure. Failures do occur, but these are almost always cases where analyses have not been run or key factors including the geologic structure and water conditions have been overlooked entirely or assessed incorrectly.

What is unknown, however, is how much unnecessary conservatism there is in standard practice because of both the choice of conservative shear strength parameters and conservatisms in the analyses themselves. This question is becoming increasing critical as the complexity and cost of many projects increases, and is especially critical, for instance, in the design of open pit mine slopes, where many millions of dollars are at stake. But if there are aspects of conventional analyses which are unconservative, this also needs to be known so that analyses and designs can be optimized.

Recent work has clarified the impact of two issues that have not been addressed in conventional slope stability analyses but can and should be included in modern slope stability analyses. These are 3D effects and the effect of seepage forces. 3D effects normally increase the computed factor of safety over that obtained from any 2D cross section, but in unusual cases can cause a small decrease in the computed factor of safety. In something of a surprise, however, seepage forces, which reduce the computed factor of safety if they are included, are not included in conventional limit equilibrium analyses.

Several 3D effect examples which are included in this article, can be found on LinkedIn: www.tinyurl.com/pyke00 These examples include one instance, the failure of the Kettleman Hills landfill in California, where 3D analyses show a small decrease in the computed factor of safety because of the back slopes having a configuration that gave an extra push to the landfill which sat on a slippery liner system. But what is more usual and more dramatic is that the 3D factor of safety of a landfill in a bottleneck canyon at Puente Hills, also in California, is 60% greater than the 2D factor of safety for a cross-section through the mouth of the canyon.

FIGURE 1

3D view of base of Puente Hills canyon 9.

remmag.com 65

FIGURE 2

Three ellipsoidal potential failure surfaces in a cohesive slope.

FIGURE 3

2D section through Greensteep wall system.

Even more surprising, however, is that 3D analyses can make a difference even for slopes that have a constant cross section. There are two reasons that this happens.

One is that for cohesive slopes there are end-effects, which, if considered, increase the factor of safety. For a simple cohesive slope this can increase the computed factor of safety by as much as 40% for the inner ellipsoid shown in Figure 2.

failure surface has to pass through the wall or revetment twice, once at each end of the potential failure, whereas in a 2D analysis it can dive underneath the wall or revetment.

Figure 3 shows a 2D cross-section through a Greensteep retaining wall which has been designed to have a factor of safety greater when 1.1 when both a surcharge load and a seismic coefficient are applied. The static factor of safety without the surcharge and seismic loads is 1.88.

However, for cohesionless slopes there is a small decrease or no change in the factor of safety because the strengths fall off towards the sides of the potential failure surface as the heights of the columns used to model the potential sliding mass decrease.

The second reason that slopes with a constant crosssection may have a higher factor of safety in a 3D analysis is that if there is a wall or revetment, such as is common in remedial construction for instance, the 3D potential

However, a 3D spherical slip surface through the wall, as shown in Figure 4, has a factor of safety of 2.53, so that a more economic design might be possible when a 3D analysis is used.

66 remmag.com

However, if a uniform surcharge load of 200 psf is applied behind the top of the slope, as shown in Figure 4, the 2D factor of safety only falls to 1.67, whereas the 3D factor of safety falls to 1.35 because there is a relatively large

FIGURE 4

3D spherical slip surface section through Greensteep wall system.

Slope failures are often said to be due to water, or rather the failure to recognize the correct water conditions, and application of the pore pressures normal to the bases of the slices in conventional slope stability analyses may give the impression that this accounts for seepage forces in non-hydrostatic conditions. However, this is not correct. increase in the driving forces for the shorter columns, and for cohesive materials such as the wall, show no increase in strength. While the engineer should still be wary of taking the calculated factors of safety at precisely their face value, this is a classic example of how an improved analysis can provide much greater insight to a problem.

Slope failures are often said to be due to water, or rather the failure to recognize the correct water conditions, and application of the pore pressures normal to the bases of the slices in conventional slope stability analyses may give the impression that this accounts for seepage forces in non-hydrostatic conditions. However, this is not correct. The seepage forces that one assumes might be applied by using total unit weights and specifying the pore pressures along the slip surface do not actually make their way into the analysis. This can easily be checked by running an analysis of a cohesive slope with varying

phreatic surfaces. Regardless of how steep the phreatic surface, it will make no difference to the computed factor of safety. The reason that a cohesive slope, or a slope in which all the strengths are specified as fixed quantities, as with undrained shear strengths, must be used is that the strength of frictional material will vary with the normal effective stress so that changing the phreatic surface will make a difference, but it does not make a difference to the limit equilibrium problem.

An example of the effect of seepage forces is included in a separate article posted on LinkedIn: tinyurl.com/pyke01 And the more technical details, including the reason that seepage forces are not included in limit equilibrium analyses, are discussed on LinkedIn: tinyurl.com/pyke02

remmag.com 67

FIGURE 5

Idealised levee section with hydrostatic conditions

FIGURE 6

Levee section at flood stage

68 remmag.com

Briefly, the example illustrates the application of seepage forces in the Ordinary Method of Columns (OMC) or nonapplication of seepage forces in Spencer’s Method using an idealized levee section that is based on real levees in the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta of California.

Both the OMC and Spencer’s Method give a factor of safety of 1.27 for this case. When the phreatic surface is raised to flood stage, however, the calculated factor of safety by Spencer’s Method remains 1.27, but the factor of safety calculated by the OMC drops to 0.98, suggesting that failures in slopes of this kind are not seen more frequently because they are either designed for healthy factors of safety or using conservative shear strength parameters.

While the levee section in this example is somewhat idealized, the drop in the phreatic surface is real because the water surface is controlled by pumping from a drainage ditch at the landward toe. More commonly, seepage forces will not make this much difference because the head loss and seepage forces will be smaller relative to the gravity forces and the resistance to sliding provided by the soil, suggesting that an increase in the total weights, elimination of negative pore pressures in partially saturated soils, a change from drained to undrained loading conditions and more general softening of soils might be bigger factors in why landslides often appear to be triggered by water. But, in critical cases the engineer needs to use a method of analysis such as the OMC, which does include seepage forces, as a check on standard limit equilibrium calculations.

The same conclusion applies to 3D effects. Sometimes they may not be that great but if you don’t have a tool that you can use to check 3D effects, you’ll never know how much your conventional 2D analyses might be in error

Recent work has clarified the impact of two issues that have not been addressed in conventional slope stability analyses but can and should be included in modern slope stability analyses. These are 3D effects and the effect of seepage forces. 3D effects normally increase the computed factor of safety over that obtained from any 2D cross section, but in unusual cases can cause a small decrease in the computed factor of safety. In something of a surprise, however, seepage forces, which reduce the computed factor of safety if they are included, are not included in conventional limit equilibrium analyses.

MORE INFORMATION Robert Pyke, Consulting Engineer: www.rpce.us The program TSLOPE used to perform the calculations reported in this editorial is available for a free trial at www.tagasoft.com The effect of seepage forces: www.tinyurl.com/pyke01 Futher discussion: www.tinyurl.com/pyke02

remmag.com 69

MADE Wolverhampton Aerial View.

Credit: Black Country LEP

70 remmag.com

Transforming the Black Country Stewart Towe CBE

Chair Black Country LEP

remmag.com 71

The Black Country LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and its partners have made significant progress in recent years to improve the Black Country economy and the opportunities for the people who live in the area and the people who employ them.

The Black Country LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and its partners have made significant progress in recent years to improve the Black Country economy and the opportunities for the people who live in the area and the people who employ them.

Our Black Country Land Development programme is an important part of our transformational journey and seeks to deliver a wide ranging Brownfield Land site preparation and remediation programme to bring forward a portfolio of strategic sites for Commercial and Residential development in support of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) ambition and objectives.

The Black Country Land Development programme will be invested in tandem with intended housing funds via the WMCA Devolution Deal as well as Growth Deal to transform significant Black Country sites and will work in parallel with other key programmes including delivery of a co-ordinated set of Transport solutions in place to service the sites and ensuring skills for growth and employment for all.

In March 2017 the WMCA awarded £53m to our programme to help landowners and developers redevelop former industrial land in the Black Country.

The money will be put towards the first wave of works in a 364 hectare brownfield remediation programme worth £1.4bn and designed to create more than 12,000 jobs and 13,500 new homes. Once the initial development works are successfully completed the scheme will see further funding from the WMCA of £97m, a total investment of £150m.

This will establish a Black Country Garden City, a High Value Manufacturing (HVM) City and see the development of four strategic centres. The schemes aim to deliver a total of 364 hectares of brownfield land

72 remmag.com

cleaned up by 2026.

The Black Country are committed to working as part of the WMCA to enable growth across the wider area and to use the scale of the CA to enable us to make further, faster progress in the Black Country through projects like the Black Country Land Development programme and the West Midlands Land Commission.

The Land Commission, led by WMCA, will take a fresh look at matters affecting the West Midlands’ land supply.

It will consider what measures could be initiated and undertaken to ensure an improved supply of developable land which supports the growth ambitions of business, the housing needs of residents, and the future diversification of the local economy.

The Land Commission will ensure that lack of developable land is not an issue for delivering the WMCA Strategic Economic Plan which aims to create 500,000 additional jobs and secure GVA of 5% higher than the national average by 2030, all of which contributes to the successful delivery of the Black Country Strategic Economic Plan by 2033.

You can read more about our plans for the Black Country Garden City, HVM City and our Strategic Centres at www.blackcountrylep.co.uk and find out more about the wider region plans at www.wmca.org.uk BLACK COUNTRY GARDEN CITY Our ambition is to accelerate house building and improve our housing mix by treating our supply of brownfield land as an opportunity for imaginative place-shaping and the creation of sustainable communities. We are applying Garden City principles in the Black Country to use the green, cultural, physical and economic assets of the Black Country towns and villages to develop attractive places where people want to live. Our new

Black Country Garden City, Accord Housing Credit: Nick Robinson

remmag.com 73

Updated Land Fund Map

74 remmag.com

Black Country LEP

Total Summary

Total Investment (£M)

Leverage (£M)

Total funding requirement (£M)

Land remediated (Ha)

Homes (units)

Commercial floorspace (Sqm)

Jobs created

1,433.45

1,090.82

342.64

363.88

13,596

640,519

12,087

HVM City

536.01

366.11

169.90

143.77

536

568,436

10,473

Garden City

630.88

491.15

139.73

202.84

12,080

2,760

115

Strategic Centres

266.56

233.56

33.01

17.27

980

69,323

1,499

Black Country Brownfield Portfolio to 2026

housing developments will be well-located with direct links to existing communities, and existing and new infrastructure including well performing schools and Active Travel routes.

Over 20,000 new homes have been built since 2006.

We will lever £6bn investment to enable an additional 45,000 homes to be built by 2026. We are working with our local partners, local communities, the house building industry and the Homes and Communities Agency to create new aspirational locations for quality housing.

Together these developments will deliver a 21st century Black Country interpretation of a Garden City in an urban setting.

The Garden City will see housing schemes on 202 hectares of remediated land. These include a proposed 836 new home development on 24 hectares of land at Willenhall making the most of the connectivity between Walsall and Wolverhampton; 700 new homes on 39 hectares in Friar Park, Sandwell with land remediation investment managing contamination issues associated with use of the site as a sewage treatment facility and former industrial use; and 900 new homes on 30 hectares in Lye where site remediation will accelerate housing supply, create a package of residential development, relocate industrial sites and improve the environment and infrastructure of the area.

HIGH VALUE MANUFACTURING (HVM) CITY This is a programme of interventions to accelerate the growth of high value manufacturing businesses in the Black Country covering 143 hectares. It capitalises on our clusters of innovative businesses in aerospace, automotive and construction sectors and the new supply chain opportunities arising from developments such as the arrival of the HS2 and the accelerated house building we plan to deliver.

We are developing a portfolio of sites of industrial excellence to enable us to repeat our success at i54 where we brought together location, environmental quality and business excellence attracting high quality blue chip companies such as Jaguar Land Rover and Moog Aerospace. The land identified for the i54 Western Extension is currently being used for agricultural purposes. Investment in land remediation here will help

develop the sites for businesses with a view to creating a cluster of major new supply chain companies and in doing so create 2,900 jobs.

The HVM programme also includes sites in the Black Country Enterprise Zone, significant development sites near J10 of the M6 in Walsall which includes a former copper works and refuse tip. Bringing these sites back into use would create up to 2,000 jobs.

Our ambition is to develop the local supply chain, re-shoring activity to the Black Country, generating an additional £1bn GVA, creating in total 25,000 jobs and raising skills and productivity.

STRATEGIC CENTRES Our four strategic centres, Brierley Hill, West Bromwich, City of Wolverhampton and Walsall Town Centre make a significant contribution to the Black Country economy and will see over 17 hectares remediated for various developments. They provide around a quarter of the area’s jobs, are increasingly important as a location for housing and are a key factor in the Black Country’s attractiveness as a place in which to live, work, visit and invest.

Wolverhampton has seen significant investment with the City Interchange, the University’s City Centre Campus, and the refurbishment of the Mander Centre.

The most significant cluster of strategic centre projects in our pipeline is also in Wolverhampton which accounts for over half of the economic growth that we envisage being generated by our strategic centres MORE INFORMATION www.blackcountrylep.co.uk Twitter: @blackcountrylep

remmag.com 75

Laboratory work.

Credit: Sabrina Cipullo

76 remmag.com

REMEDIATE ITN Toward improved decision making in management of contaminated land, the way forward.

Sabrina Cipullo, AMRSC

Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher in Environmental Technology Laboratory work.

Credit: Sabrina Cipullo

remmag.com 77

Sabrina Cipullo, AMRSC, Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher (ESR) in Environmental Technology, working on Environmental Chemistry and toxicological approaches to site assessments, explains how this 4 year EU project can provide better informed solutions for remediation.

Land is legally defined as ‘contaminated’ when substances (e.g heavy metals, oils, tars, and asbestos) may cause significant harm to people, property, protected species, or pollution of surface and ground water. An estimate of 250,000 sites in Europe solely are thought to be affected by contamination left by industrial activities, including leaks and spillages from pipes or tanks, mining, and waste disposal in landfill.

According to national estimates, more than 8% of the sites are contaminated and need remediation, and the overall number is estimated to grow by more than 50% by 2025. Most of the European countries apply the "polluter-pays" principle, when possible. However, large sums of public money are still required to fund remediation activities, where average unitary costs for the investigation of a potentially contaminated site can cost up to 50,000 EUR (42,000 GBP). Soil remediation technologies have developed significantly in the last 25 years, but less attention has been paid to improving the investigation strategies. Environmental site assessments still relies on intrusive grab sampling based on an outmoded geotechnical mind-set.

THE REMEDIATE ITN REMEDIATE ITN is a four-year project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme, which brings together internationally renowned research and industrial expertise to develop new strategies to improve management of contaminated sites. The project is tackling different aspects through 13 individual research projects, ranging from Environmental chemistry and toxicology, molecular microbiology, to geophysics and modelling. The researchers joined REMEDIATE from all

78 remmag.com

over the world: China, Nepal, Canada, USA, India, Iran, Italy, Moldova, Serbia, and Portugal. The outcome of the research projects will feed into a cohesive and integrated approach that will deliver innovative technologies and commercial processes for contaminated site investigation, risk assessment and monitoring for effective remediation.

FROM A HAZARD-APPROACH TO A PROPORTIONATE ASSESSMENT OF RISK (RISK-BASED-APPROACH) The level of implementation of pollution prevention measures, risk assessment, and management approaches are applied unevenly across Europe, depending on different legal requirements and national management strategies. At present, there are no common legal requirements concerning soil quality standards; however targets for the remediation of sites have been set by some European member countries. Great Britain has a comprehensive legal framework, including Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990, which addresses identification of contaminated sites and removal or reduction of risk to receptors and environment. Overall, since the early 90s, there have been major changes in the field of contaminated land, moving from a hazardapproach to a proportionate assessment of risk (riskbased-approach) based on the source-pathway-receptor framework, now widely accepted by policy makers.

Risk-based approaches depend on the likelihood and severity of exposure of the receptor to the contaminants; therefore evaluating exposure routes (oral ingestion, inhalation or dermal exposure) is fundamental to correctly estimate potential intake dose. However, when a receptor is exposed to contaminated soil and ingestion occurs, the

Arsenic contaminated soil in Brabrand at Aarhus

chemical released from the soil (available for uptake) will depend on how tightly the contaminant is bounded to soil particles. Soil Guideline Values (SGVs), largely used, simplified the initial screening process at contaminated sites. These measurements rely on total contaminants’ concentration, and are frequently considered primary basis for making soil clean-up decisions.

In nearly 10 years since the SGV were developed, more research has shown that pollutants in soil are subjected to ageing or disappearance due to leaching, volatilisation or microbial degradation. The decline in contaminants’ concentration, and consequently its bioavailable fraction, is not currently reflected in the chemical methods, hence exposure is often overestimated and clean-up requirements can be unnecessarily stringent.

Lately, governments want to avoid over-conservative measures and are encouraging standards to be relaxed.

In an era of great demand for decision support tools, new reliable methodologies are required to assist sustainable land management development and help qualifying and quantifying risk posed by contaminants. This new area of risk assessment focuses on evaluating a range of in vitro tests for predicting the bioavailable and bioaccessible fraction and how to implement these data in the risk

Lately, governments want to avoid over-conservative measures and are encouraging standards to be relaxed. In an era of great demand for decision support tools, new reliable methodologies are required to assist sustainable land management development and help qualifying and quantifying risk posed by contaminants.

remmag.com 79

REMEDIATE and ATBEST early stage researchers in Queens University Belfast.

Site visit, Gaswork Belfast, UK.

80 remmag.com

Credit: remediate.eu

Credit: Sabrina Cipullo

assessment. Queen’s University Belfast, Cranfield University, Dublin City University, University of DuisburgEssen, University of Turin, TE Laboratories Limited, will collaborate in developing improved methodologies for investigation of complex environmental chemistry of contaminated land, improving our understanding of contaminant distribution, and toxicological impacts on potential receptors. In particular, Queens University of Belfast, in collaboration with the British Geological Survey are working on the BARGE (Bioaccessibility Research Group of Europe) Unified Bioaccessibility Method to assess human exposure from ingestion of soils (ISO/DIS 17924). This method simulates the human gastrointestinal tract using 4 synthetic digestive fluids: saliva, gastric fluid, duodenal fluid and bile, and provides estimates of the metal soluble fraction in the gastrointestinal environment, giving information on risk and potential human uptake.

Dublin City University and University of Duisburg-Essen are studying organic compound (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) degradation in soil and water, and developing advanced monitoring methods; part of this work has been already awarded a prize at the ISEH2016 international conference in Ireland.

REMEDIATION SUCCESS DEPENDS ON MICROBIAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND DIVERSITY Understanding and improving the way we assess risk through Environmental chemistry and toxicology approaches to site assessments is only one of the multiple aspects that REMEDIATE wants to tackle. The co-occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals, commonly found in many industrialised and urbanised areas, can have a negative impact on soil microbial communities and their enzyme activities, inhibiting biodegradation and therefore hampering remediation success. Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast and University of Copenhagen are studying contamination impacts on microbial diversity through advanced metagenomics techniques and plantmicroorganisms relationships to improve monitoring and remediation tools for metal polluted sites. Part of this research is carried out at Collstrup site in Hillerød, Denmark, where wood poles used to be impregnated with copper, chromium, and arsenic as a wood preservative, hence the main contamination on site has affected both top soil and shallow groundwater. The aim is to explore the relationship between the microbial activity, microbial biomass, and functional diversity of soil bacteria, and provide more information on the impact of mixed and long-term contamination.

Understanding the complexity of soil, chemical and microbial interaction is only part of a successful remediation strategy. In fact, successful monitoring of bio-product, toxins, and environmental pollutants, is an important task in the field of environmental science. In

recent years, live cells have been employed as biosensors for a wide range of targets; Dublin City University and Queen’s University Belfast work on geophysical approaches to monitor remediation processes through microbial fuel cell biosensors applications. Biosensor combines biological molecules with a physical transducer able to provide quantitative analytical data that can be related to the target concentrations. The use of biosensors offer rapid and real time monitoring, and it is becoming an area of great interest due to its potential applications on site.

IMPACT AND OUTREACH Achieving a sustainable use of land and water is a political and social objective of the community. The aim of REMEDIATE is developing research, exchanging knowledge and experience on technical concepts of contaminated land. Each researcher will be able to deliver quality research from the scientific and technical training at their host site; in addition they will work closely with industry, thanks to the secondment within the network.

Private sector beneficiaries TEL, SUP and IWW, offer training programmes and opportunities to deliver real world solutions and support career enhancement. The ESRs already had multiple opportunities to interact and collaborate with the industrial sector, developing network and exporting their knowledge. I recently became a STEM ambassador to inspire and engage young people about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Thus I have also been involved in outreach activities, for example Science Uncovered at the National History Museum (Part of European Researchers' Night sponsored

by HORIZON 2020) in order to help people better understand contaminated land and its impacts. Finally, thanks to Soapbox Science selecting me as a speaker, I will have the chance to take part in the Milton Keynes event on Saturday 29 July 12 – 3 pm. In addition, I also engaged with industry and have been invited to present my work at #YourSOILution conference on Tuesday 13th December, an event organised by ALS Environmental and present at the Contamination Expo Series in London

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020

research and innovation programme

under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 643087

MORE INFORMATION Sabrina Cipullo Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher in Environmental Science, School of Water, Energy and Environment s.cipullo@cranfield.ac.uk

remmag.com 81

The Bento Rodrigues dam disaster occurred on 5th November 2015, when an iron ore tailings dam in Bento Rodrigues, a subdistrict of Mariana, Brazil, suffered a catastrophic failure.

Credit: Romerito Pontes

The Need for Environmental Impact Assessment in Decision Making for Remediation Projects Dr Ranveer Singh Mahwar

82 remmag.com

remmag.com 83

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the developments projects and the use of its findings in deciding the sustainability of the developments is mandatory in almost in all countries. However, the legislation of most of the countries does not require conducting of EIA studies for the projects involving remediation of the contaminated sites. In fact remediation activities mostly get into attention only in cases where a contaminated site is intended to be used for some or other anthropogenic purposes. The Site Assessments in remediation projects also remain limited to the extent of the requirements of the remediation for the intended use of the sites.

The contamination caused from sources such as abandoned industries, closed mines, war sites, accidental spillages into the rivers/oceans such as spurting of mine waste water, bursting of tailing dams, sinking of ships containing hazardous materials etc remain or become a history except in cases where the matters are raised before the courts for actions, claims etc. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy (BGD) which happened in December 1984 in the Union Carbide‘s pesticide plant located at Bhopal in India, still remains contaminated and claims are still awaiting settlements. One of the major reasons of such long delays could be the absence of legislation for an environmentally sound management of hazardous chemicals/wastes at that time of such accidents. The positive implication of the BGD came in the form of the enactment of the Environmental Protect Act by the Govt of India in 1986, and subsequently also notification of the rules making obtaining of the Environmental Clearance (EC) mandatory for the development projects.

The obtaining of EC for the remediation activities is still not a requirement in India. However, the country has started its remediation programmes in the form of the World Bank Assisted project on Capacity Building

84 remmag.com

for Industrial Pollution Management Project in the year 2010. This project included four pilot projects on remediation through learning approach. There is another programme called “Remediation of Hazardous waste contaminated dumpsites under National Clean Energy Fund (NECF) Project” started in the year 2011. The status of the NCEF project is that work has been awarded to a multinational consultancy company in 2014 for preparing detailed project reports for eight contaminated sites in the country. These sites/areas mainly involve Mercury, Chromium, H-Acid and pesticide contamination of soil and surface/ground water. The total number of the so–called “Hazardous Waste contaminated dump sites” identified in India as of May 2017 is 71. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), Govt of India has also published Guidance documents in the year 2015 for assessment and remediation of contaminated sites. However, the very criteria of the classification of hazardous wastes got changed when the MOEFCC notified the new rules called the “Hazardous and Other wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules” in April, 2016 (HW Rules 2016). The wastes which were classified as hazardous on the basis of

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy (BGD) which happened in December 1984 in the Union Carbide‘s pesticide plant located at Bhopal in India, still remains contaminated and claims are still awaiting settlements.

Credit: Dr Devendra Kumar Soni

remmag.com 85

86 remmag.com

The Bento Rodrigues dam disaster caused catastrophic flooding, destroyed two villages, and claimed 17 lives.

Credit: Romerito Pontes

remmag.com 87

their composition as per the earlier rules are to be now classified on the basis of their leachability as per the HW Rules 2016. This implies that a site containing toxic metals waste may no more be considered as contaminated where the accumulated waste passes the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) or Soluble Threshold Limit Concentration (STLC) tests prescribed in the HW Rules 2016.

A review of the details of India’s contaminated sites remediation programme also indicates large differences in the geographic area (from a few hundred square meters to several square kilometres) involved in the impact zones of the identified sites, absence of studies on the environmental receptors and their migration pathways, the cost considerations limited to the process from identification to remediation, the remediation costs being a burden mostly on the Central/State Governments with little hope of its recovery from the polluters using the polluter pays principle in view of the absence of any robust enforcement mechanism , absence of feasibility studies, Absence of Risk Assessments and Disaster Management Plans , absence of soil quality standards, etc. The remediation of the sites identified and declared as contaminated is on a “has to be done” approach based activity in the country.

The global scenario on the remediation of contaminated sites is not much different from India. A review of the global survey (Latin America, USA, Canada, EU, UAE, and Asia including China) of the legislation, programmes, guidelines, etc on the subject indicates large differences in the understanding and approaches in the identification, assessment and remediation of contaminated sites. There are several terms in use such as suspected hazardous, probably contaminated, potentially contaminated, contaminated, Brownfield, and derelict sites for defining contamination of the specific sites, and decontamination, remediation, restoration etc for defining removal of the contaminants. The remediation programmes in most of the countries also appear to cover only the “has to be done” kind of approach.

The aspect of the overall sustainability of the remediation projects appear to be prevailing to some extent only in the EU Legislation where the national/ regional policies are based on a Risk–Based Land Management concept. It emphasizes sustainable solutions for recovering the usability and economic value of land and its integration with the protection of environment quality. The issues covered in the EU programmes include: focus on integrating sustainable remediation with awareness among stakeholders, taking of river basin or regional approach in areas when several contaminated sites impact the environment or public health, understanding natural capacities and ecosystem functions to identify sustainable land use options, etc.

The legislation of Dubai requires obtaining a written

88 remmag.com

ASH BASIN UPPER STORMWATER DRAIN A concrete pipe below this coal ash impoundment failed, releasing coal ash, and ash pond water into the Dan River, North Carolina.`

Credit: Steven Alexander, USFWS

approval or a “No Objection Certificate (NOC)” from each of the concerned departments including the Department of Environment for starting an Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), obtaining separate NOCs for any offsite disposal of the wastes generated in the remediation process and site specific “Environmental Clearance Certificate” for the sites cleared of the contamination.

The documentation requirements include preparation of an ESA report in the format prescribed.

The need for conducting EIA studies to ascertain the sustainability of remediation projects can be best realized from the several accidents that have happened in the last three years. The major accidents are: the coal ash spill from the storage ponds of Duke Energy Plant into the Dan River in February 2014; The Gold King Mine (GKM) waste water blowout which released about 3 million gallons of mine waste water into the Animas river in August 2015; BHP owned mine dam burst in Brazil spilling mine waste into the Gualaxo do Norte river in November 2015; the turning of China’s Zhongting River red due to industrial waste discharge in April 2016; and the discharge of mine waste into the river Daldykan, Russia in September 2016.

The absence of the Risk Assessment (RA) and Disaster Management Plans (DMPs) in each of these cases is evident

from the trail of the consequences that followed these accidents. In fact the findings and recommendations of the internal investigations of the GKM Blowout by the US EPA and an independent technical evaluation of the same by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), USA cover mostly the issues/aspects which are also the major components of EIA studies. The aspects pointed out by the BOR in their investigation are similar to the aspects that are otherwise covered in EIA studies and include an absence of (i) an understanding that water impounded behind a blocked mine opening can create hydraulic forces similar to those in a dam, (ii) analysis of potential failure modes, (iii) analysis of downstream consequences if failure were to occur, (iv) engineering considerations that analyze the geologic and hydrologic conditions of the general area, (v) monitoring to ensure that the structure constructed to close the mine portal continues to perform as intended and (vi) an understanding of the groundwater system affecting all the mines in the area.

The recommendations made in the US EPA’s internal review are also quite similar to the General Terms of Reference that are prepared for conducting the EIA studies for the development projects. The recommendation for a panel of experts from the various concerned areas

including academia, consultants, non-governmental organizations etc for further analysis of the case and making suggestions for reducing the risk of such incidents in the future, made in the USEPA’s review, is also quite similar to the Committees of Experts that are constituted by the EC issuing Agencies for appraisal of projects and their EIA reports and making of the recommendations in regard to the sustainability of development projects. It is also evident that had an EIA study been conducted for the GKM project and the remediation planned accordingly, this incident of a remediation activity resulting in an enormous contamination could have been avoided.

It may therefore be concluded that the need for incorporating the concept of EIA in the remediation projects is obvious for ascertaining the sustainability of such projects, especially the ones involving high risks of adverse impacts on the environmental receptors

MORE INFORMATION For a full list of references, please read the editorial on the Remediation Magazine website: www.remmag.com

remmag.com 89

The aftermath of the Bento Rodrigues dam disaster, 5th November 2015.

Credit: Romerito Pontes

The 7th International ontaminated Site Remediation Conference

10-14 September 2017 Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Incorporating the 1st International PFAS Conference

Bringing together researchers, regulators and industry

• Workshops on hot contamination topics (limited availability) • Travel scholarships available for PhD students and earlycareer researchers • Nominate your work: •

CARE Award for innovation in contamination assessment and remediation

•

Agilent Award for Innovation in Analytical Science

arlybird registration available until 15 August

www.cleanupconference.com 90 remmag.com

Air Monitors - the UK’s leading supplier of world class air quality monitoring equipment & services

For more information: 01684 857 530 enquire@airmonitors.co.uk www.airmonitors.co.uk Air Monitors Ltd, Units 2/3 Miller Court, Severn Drive, Tewkesbury,Gloucestershire GL20 8DN