Contaminated land can be treated in various ways and each site will require the most suitable form of treatment. What suits one site, may not be suitable for another.
Excavation and Off-Site Disposal
The contaminated soil is dug up and transported to a licensed disposal site. This method is very fast and certain, however costs escalate extremely with volume of soil to be disposed of. It can cause immense disturbance to a currently operating site.
Bioremediation
Bacteria and other micro-organisms such as to break down organic contaminants like hydrocarbons and solvents. Such contaminated ground can be very effectively cleaned by such biological processes. Soil washing has, on the other hand, been developed to ‘wash’ contaminated soil with water to separate out the contaminants from the rest of the cleaned-up soil.
Soil Washing
For heavily metal contaminated soils, soil washing is gaining popularity. By washing the excavated soils with water, contaminants can be separated from the rest of the soil thus greatly reducing the amount of material to be disposed of, resulting in lower overall costs.
Stabilisation and Solidification
Soil washing involves excavating the contaminated soil and then processing it with water in order to wash the contaminants out of the soil. The resulting cleaned soil is then put back on site or disposed of. The approach is particularly suited to sites with heavy metal contamination as it reduces the volume of waste requiring disposal.
Monitored Natural Attenuation
Natural recovery under close control can be an acceptable method to allow sites to recover naturally. However, this would only meet the relevant regulatory standards if the site contained a stable and low risk amount of contamination. This approach is in line with land contamination guidance from the Environment Agency. For Soil Remediation, see //soilfix.co.uk/services/soil-remediation/.
Getting the right approach early on will save you a lot of headaches and help you to avoid any potential delays for your development or sale.
