Entec Bulletin
Case Study
Clustering Contaminated Soils

..and moving on from ‘ dig and dump’.

Much of the contaminated soil encountered in the UK is found on smaller development sites, where the volume of soil and development pressures make it uneconomic to set up a site-based treatment facility. Time and space constraints act against the use of on-site treatment technologies. Historically this has led to off-site disposal of contaminated soils to landfill (dig and dump) and replacement with new quarried granular fills. However, landfill disposal will become increasingly undesirable with the EU Landfill Directive now taking effect.

There will be a reduced number of waste landfills that can accept hazardous waste. Contaminated soil will be classed as hazardous or non-hazardous depending on the degree and type of contamination. The effects will be to increase haulage distances to the remaining sites and to increase the gate price, the latter due to increased management costs and a potential major shortage of landfill capacity driving prices upwards.

Landfill gate prices are expected to increase by over 100% which together with increased haulage costs are providing some considerable impetus to providing an alternative solution for contaminated soils.

In this context, Entec was recently commissioned by exSite Research to undertake the CLUSTER study. The project was sponsored by the Soil and Groundwater Technology Association and was funded by shanks.first using the landfill tax credit system that is regulated by ENTRUST.

The CLUSTER concept involves "feeding" a soil treatment centre or hub with contaminated soils from many, often small, sites. Treated material which is suitable may then be returned to the same site (or another site) for reclamation purposes, or may be sold in the open market as a fill material or aggregate.

The project considered the design of the treatment hubs, commercial, contractual and financial perspectives, planning and licensing, logistical and operational constraints, ownership issues and the complexities and inconsistencies arising from various pieces of UK legislation, the EU Landfill Directive and regulatory controls. The potential audience is therefore wide, including problem holders, technology and waste disposal providers, regulators and government departments.

Visit www.entecuk.com to download a copy of the full CLUSTER report in PDF format. Also available from the site is a Technical Briefing providing an overview of the Landfill Directive and issues affecting contaminated land and brownfield regeneration projects.

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