CHEMICALS & PHARMACEUTICALS Land Divestiture Services Blue-Chip Manufacturing Company, Middlesex
Project Summary
Land Divestiture Services Blue-chip Manufacturing Company, Middlesex
Key Project Elements • Review of Historic Data • Risk Assessment • Remediation Strategy • Soil Validation Assessment • Groundwater Assessment • Decommissioning of Site Abstraction Wells • Verification of Third-Party Activities • Regulatory Liaison
CRA was commissioned by a blue-chip manufacturing company to complete a Site Validation Assessment at their facility located in Harrow, Middlesex. The company undertook a strategic footprint reduction programme at the site during 2007 which involved the demolition of 35 site buildings and divestiture of land. The aim of the investigation was to validate, and treat where necessary, any impacted soils to prepare the land for redevelopment and maximise its land value. CRA undertook a historical information review to determine the processes and likely environmental issues associated with over 100 years of industrial use at the site. Potential contaminants were identified and the desk-based information was used to devise a Conceptual Cite Model. Data was further collated and an environmental risk assessment was undertaken to determine risk-based threshold concentrations for contaminants likely to be encountered at the site. CRA developed a remediation strategy in conjunction with the stakeholders and submitted to the Environment Agency (EA) ahead of the demolition works. The soil validation works involved the excavation of over 500 trial pits and over 100 shallow boreholes at regular intervals across the site for the inspection and collection of soil samples for analysis. Seven additional groundwater monitoring wells were also installed. In line with the demolition and site clearance programme, each location was assessed and validated prior to the surface being prepared for reuse. Where necessary, soils were removed for treatment in accordance with the agreed remediation strategy. Regular groundwater monitoring was also undertaken to ensure that no adverse impact had been caused to the underlying aquifer as a result of the demolition works. CRA also provided third-party verification for the decommissioning of several 100m site abstraction wells. Liaison with the EA during this process enabled a suitable specification to be developed to the satisfaction of all parties. The final report package included details on each stage of the validation assessment including data review, remediation strategy, risk assessment, sampling methodology, analytical results and recommendations. To supplement the report, CRA produced an electronic e:DAT™ package for the site. This GIS program integrates geographic information with analytical data, photographs, soil logs and other information to produce a user-friendly interactive tool for use by the client.
Ref: PS0034