Entec Bulletin
Reclaiming
the Heartlands
...from a ghostly, smouldering wasteland.
Entec Case Study
In Spring 2002, Entec was commissioned by Ecosse Regeneration to manage the reclamation of the former Polkemmet Colliery site, with the specific requirement to undertake a detailed EIA of the proposed works. Ecosse Regeneration, a consortium comprising Kelvin Homes and Samuel Trust and funded by the Royal Bank of Scotland, had earlier purchased the site from the Coal Authority with the aim of providing a new lease of life to the vacated colliery and surrounding land. This ambitious £100 million regeneration plan, known as Heartlands, aimed to change the landscape significantly with championship size golf courses, high-tech industrial units, hotel and leisure facilities. However, the task would not be easy, as an early report of the site explains:
The former Polkemmet Colliery site, located close to the M8 corridor approximately half way between Edinburgh and Glasgow, represents one of the largest sites of industrial dereliction in Scotland. The 470 hectare site, which can be described as ‘a ghostly smouldering wasteland’, includes 120 ha of colliery spoil tips (bings), together with poor quality agricultural land, coniferous plantation and areas of blanket bog of varying quality. The bings represent a major environmental legacy and are generating acidic minewater, which is leading to the severe contamination of two burns, which flow alongside and beneath them. The largest tip is also on fire and odorous fumes blow across the neighbouring communities.
Polkemmet Colliery was one of Scotland’s most important and successful mines up until its closure in 1986. With around 1400 people it was the second largest employer in West Lothian behind the British Leyland truck factory in Bathgate. However, Polkemmet’s decline began in 1984/5 with the Miners’ Strike. Pumping at the colliery stopped and flooding damaged the pit. Though pumping briefly resumed again after the dispute and the unions argued that the colliery could be recovered, the NCB announced that the colliery would close due to the financial difficulties it had run into. Pumping finally ceased in 1986 and the area has slipped further and further into decline since then.
Entec has taken the lead role in the management of the EIA process, which has also encompassed inputs from seven other specialist companies. A detailed environmental statement for the project was completed and submitted to West Lothian Council along with a planning application in March 2003. The technical highlights included an engineering strategy for dealing safely and appropriately with contaminated material, including spoil which continues to burn and produce noxious fumes and odours. The design of new watercourses leading to the expansion of habitat for water voles, the protection of the best areas of blanket bog and the creation of new areas of heath and fen, in the setting of a new attractive landscape were all major features of the project.
Since submission of the Polkemmet application, Entec has prepared a second environmental statement, including an assessment of the environmental effects of constructing a new motorway interchange, together with accompanying new road infrastructure layout, business park, 2000 new houses and leisure facilities including two championship golf courses and a hotel complex. Supplementary technical reports to discharge some of the 137 draft planning conditions have included Phase 1 and 2 contaminated land studies relating to the former colliery headworks, an air quality management plan, an investigation into groundwater linkage across the Polkemmet Fault, additional noise monitoring, predictions and assessment, and detailed design of the diverted Cultrig Burn. Further technical submissions are planned for the coming months, including a report that will outline the detailed proposals for the site remediation strategy and future groundwater monitoring.
All in all the Heartlands reclamation project is expected to deliver a fitting extension to the proud history of the Polkemmet site, turning a derelict eyesore and environmental hazard from the past into a sustainable business, residential and leisure development to the benefit of generations to come.
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