The SMC is applied in Bitterfeld for cross-area soil interventions in order to support investors in the hazard-free handling of potentially contaminated soils.
Until the political change in 1990, a massive environmental damage was caused by more than 100 years of chemical industrie at the Bitterfeld megasite. Subsequently, the large site was prepared for safe use through remediation and securing measures. However, there are still significant contaminants (including HCH) in the subsurface in varying compositions and concentrations that can cause risks during soil intervention.
As a result of a construction-linked increase of HCH concentrations in the Bitterfeld drainage system, a so-called Soil Management Concept (SMC) was developed in 2020 for an infrastructure project with numerous soil interventions across the site. It summarized information on pollutant loads at the points of intervention but also included official requirements from waste and water legislation as well as occupational health and safety, which were linked to the requirements of the construction project.
The result was a detailed and with all responsible authorities pre-coordinated plan for the handling of the soil material at the intervention points, that served the construction company as a basis for action in the realization of the project.
More precisly, it contained:
• Information on the pollutant loads at intervention points
• Requirements for occupational health and safety
• Requirements for the analytics as well as a detailed plan for handling soil material depending on the results
• Requirements for interim storage, reuse and disposal of soil
Resources needed
• Staff is needed to research the contaminant potential and coordinate the SMC. In one project, this resulted in a workload of approx. 250 hours and costs of 15,000 €.
• Access to a geo-information system that provides data on contaminant inventory, geology and geography at the affected site.
Evidence of success
The SMC resulted in the safe handling of approx. 8,600 tons partially contaminated soil material during an infrastructure project in 2020. No release of contaminants was detectable, and soil management proved thus to be optimized.
Therefore, the SMC has already been applied in other infrastructure projects in Bitterfeld and should be used more frequently for these types of projects, as it minimizes investment constraints while providing a high level of protection to people and the environment.
Potential for learning or transfer
The soil management concept is a powerful instrument for cross-area soil interventions like infrastructure projects, at sites with diffuse pollutant loads in the subsurface. The concept is particularly suitable for contaminated sites (and the near vicinity) where hazardous substances were dealt with in the past.
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Tags: Air pollution, Business support, Chemical industry, Citizens, Communication, Construction, Economic development, Economy, Emissions, Environment, Industrial waste, Pollution, Soil, Solutions, Water contamination
