Current situation
Estimated extent of local soil contamination in Europe • 2.5 million potentially contaminated sites • Estimated total of 340,000 sites expected to require remediation • About 15 % of these 340,000 sites has been remediated • Estimated cost of managing contaminated land in Europe € 6,5 billion per year Largest cause of soil contamination is poor waste management • Municipal and industrial waste disposal and treatment causes around a third of Europe's soil contamination problem • Metal industries and petrol stations are also common sources of soil contamination • Mining is an important source in some countries • The most frequent contaminants are mineral oils and heavy metals
European soil legislation (1/2)
• Drinking Water directive: protection of groundwater for drinking water • Water framework directive (WFD): surface water and sediments, risk based • Groundwater daughter directive (GDD): bodies of groundwater (aquifers), phreatic groundwater only regards as source locations • Sewage sludge directive, landfill directive, waste directive: waste (excavated contaminated soil is regarded as waste – ‘end of waste definition’) • IPPC, IED, E-PRTR, REACH: dangerous chemicals, soil protection • Soil Thematic strategy − Not legislation but policy − Balancing social, economical and environmental principles − Topics: soil contamination, erosion, organic matter decline (desert forming), compression, sealing
Source: Progress in the Management of Contaminated Sites in Europe (JRC reference reports, 2014)
Sustainability
‘Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ Brundtland Commission, 1987 Movement from traditional techniques to sustainable soil remediation and green infrastructure
• ‘Traditional’ remediation techniques are most commonly used for the treatment of contaminated soil, in particular the technique of soil excavation and disposal is applied in about 30 % of the relevant sites. In-situ and ex-situ measures are applied with similar frequencies
State of the art of soil remediation in Europe
Laurent Bakker
Introduction
• Director of Soil and Groundwater Tauw Group • Project Manager Tauw 24 years • Vice Chair, Network on Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe (Nicole) • Chair Dutch Normalization Institute (NEN), Fieldwork & Sampling • Chair Association for Quality Assurance Soil Management (VKB) • Board Member Foundation Infrastructure for Quality Assurance of Soil Management (SIKB) • Member of Netherlands Soil Partnership (NSP)
&nefits
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….a net benefit
Sustainable remediation (2/2)
• Remediation seeks to reduce risks associated with soil and groundwater contamination, but also: − Uses energy, natural resources − Can generate wastes − Introduces health and safety risks • Key issue: Remediation is not sustainable per se, and certain strategies / technologies may cause more damage than they solve
Source: Progress in the Management of Contaminated Sites in Europe (JRC reference reports, 2014)
Dominant remediation technologies for contaminated soils
European soil legislation (2/2)
• Movement towards sustainability: − Draft EU Soil Protection Framework Directive (February 2009, stalled): ‘Remediation shall consist of actions on the soil...due consideration to social, economic and environmental impacts…’ − EU Water Framework Directive: achieve good status unless ..infeasible ..disproportionate cost ..and the preferred solution is considered best balance of social, economic and environmental costs [i.e. sustainable]
Sustainable remediation (1/2)
• SURF-UK, SURF-NL: Sustainable interactions with Contaminant Soil and Groundwater • A sustainable remediation project is one that represents the best solution when considering environmental, social and economic factors, as agreed by the stakeholders
Clean everything to natural background values Risk-based management
Evolution of Soil and Groundwater Management
Risk-based management incorporating sustainability considerations
View on the issues in Europe
• European rules and regulations are only drafted if: − Problems cross boundaries − Issues regarding human health − Issues regarding a free European market − National legislation is lacking • Clean drinking water was recognized as an important issue early on (human health) • Later other water quality issues and later groundwater quality issues were addressed (crossing boundaries) • Soil quality is unanimously seen as very important, but it doesn’t qualify for making European legislation (opinion of several member states) − Local, not crossing boundaries − Partly in other legislation (erosion in agricultural legislation, waste in separate directives, soil protection and registration of dangerous chemicals etc.)