Earth Environmental – Aug 2013 News

The summer months have been a busy time for us with no real sign of a downturn of work during the holiday season.  Some very interesting contracts have been recently awarded and have involved us travelling to many parts of England, Wales and Scotland.

The contract wins reflect our enviable professional reputation, multidisciplinary approach and core skills in geology, geotechnical engineering and contaminated land assessments.

Notable recent contract wins include;

Berwick-Upon-Tweed

Pre-purchase due-diligence assessment of existing information in relation to solvent (PCE) contaminated site on active industrial estate in Berwick-Upon-Tweed.  The site is contaminated due to historical waste water handling practice and a spillage in the early 1990’s.  Despite implementation of a programme of Soil Vapour Extraction and continued groundwater pumping there is clear evidence of ongoing contamination issues.  The next phase of work will involve a site investigation and technical assistance to Environmental Lawyer (ELM Law) who are co-ordinating the exchange of contracts.

Manchester

A Validation Report in relation to Ground Gas Mitigation measures implemented at an industrial unit has been approved by the local authority.  The unit is located on an infilled clay pit, adjacent to a gassing former domestic waste landfill.

A future phase of work will involve drilling of boreholes, use of downhole in-situ infra-red gas analysers and flame ionisation detector monitoring within adjacent building units.

Norfolk

The company was instructed to provide a Quarries Regulations Geotechnical Assessment and Audit of quarry workings on a site in Norfolk.  The work involved of an appraisal of health and safety issues, working practices on the site with recommendations in relation to sidewall stability of recent deep working areas.

Leeds

A quick turnaround was required for a due-diligence survey of a site prior to acquisition.  The site located in an industrial estate is a vehicle repairing centre and has been in use for over 50years.  Potential liabilities discovered during the audit included a gasoline tank, which demanded an assessment of potential soil and groundwater contamination.  The work was procured through Pannone Solicitors in Manchester and was completed within three working days of receipt of the instruction.

London

A recent instruction has involved us supporting a national consultancy practice with environmental monitoring and groundwater sampling on a very large site investigation project in London.  The work will entail us working on the project for a few months.

Hemel Hempstead

A local authority procured us to provide a Basic Phase I Desk Study as part of a pre-purchase survey of the site.  The site is located on part of a former paper mill and is used as a car-parking area.  The study flagged up a number of development constraints including infilled canal basins, flooding areas, presence of a groundwater abstraction borehole on site and the presence of weak alluvium.

Future work will involve a site investigation for pile design and examination of any relict structures associated with the former paper mill and canal basins.

Remediation Projects

We have been working closely with several remediation and demolition contractors assisting them with tender appraisals and providing technical support services during site works.

Work is about to commence on a site near Wigan where our advice has been provided to give the client a competitive advantage during the tendering phase.  The landowner, faced a large expense to remediate a greenfield site that contained a peripheral screening bund that is contaminated with elevated metals.  Several contractors were approached and delivered solutions involving the removal of materials to a hazardous waste facility.

We recognised that the material presented a human health risk and recommended the development of a Materials Management Plan to demonstrate suitability of use in another part of the site that was going to be used for an open space end use.  This negated the export of material to a landfill facility.