Preventing harm from chlorinated solvents
A contaminated site in north-eastern Hungary belonging to a multinational manufacturing company was contaminated with volatile organic compounds in the form of chlorinated solvents present as a dissolved plume and dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL). The plume had migrated 300 m into a residential area. Exposure can lead to short- or long-term health effects, depending on how it enters the body and the amount. Short-term side effects include dizziness, fatigue, headaches and skin rashes. Long-term side effects include chronic skin problems and damage to the nervous system, kidneys or liver.
The insidious nature of the material means that there is no practical method for removing contaminated sources. The manufacturing company feared remediation would cost millions of euros but would be futile because of the nature of the material. So, it wanted to convince the local environmental authority that it could mitigate the risks to human health and the environment without trying to remove the contamination sources.
The company asked BGT Hungaria Környezettechnológiai Kft. (BGT Hungaria) to perform human health and environmental risk assessments and develop a remediation design for the site. (In 2014, RSK acquired a 100% shareholding in BGT Hungaria.) It advocated adopting the US Environmental Protection Agency’s technical impracticality approach and the environmental authority agreed. This approach focused on mitigating the risks to human health and the environment. Using on-site dye tests and cone-penetration test membrane interface probe campaigns, BGT Hungaria investigated the DNAPLs. The plume was defined through hydrodynamic and contaminant-transport modelling. The study quantifies and predicts physical, chemical and biological processes. The data enabled BGT Hungaria to construct a conceptual site model.
The conceptual site model was a key element in determining the risk mitigation strategy. BGT Hungaria designed a pump-and-treat system to prevent plume-front migration. Sentinel wells in uncontaminated areas check for plume expansion and vapour intrusion monitoring systems in residential areas enable intervention measures, such as soil depressurisation systems, to be applied, should these be required to protect human health.
For 10 years, the mitigation measures have contained the plume and protected humans and the environment. The adoption of a technical impracticality approach has saved the manufacturing company millions of euros. Monitoring is ongoing: BGT Hungaria analyses samples and the data are uploaded to a GIS system, which enables easy analysis and interrogation of a decade of data.
- Location: Hungary
- Project status: Complete
- Sector: Property and Construction
- Service: Health, Safety and Risk Remediation Remediation Strategy
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🤝 At COP27, delegates from across the globe debated vital issues from expediting clean energy solutions to ensuring financial support for nations on the front lines of climate change.
🤔 As we are looking ahead to what the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will bring, we asked specialists from across the RSK group what impact the agreement has had on their sectors and regions.
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#ClimateChange #Biodiversity #ClimateCrisis #COP15 #COP27 #Sustainability
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Amelia Houghton from RSK Biocensus having a wonderful time on-site!
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👏 Steven Carmody, Managing Director at SCP Infrastructure, an RSK group company, has been re-elected to the national council of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation.
💚 "I take great pride in seeing things being built and leaving a long-term legacy for our world.”
Find out more about Steven's work in our bio!
#Highways #Transportation #Transport #Infrastructure #Sustainability #Council
🤔 Do you ever wonder what COP15 really is and why does it matter to you and your business?
💚 Dr Stephanie Wray, RSK Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Managing Director of Nature Positive, gives us a clear explanation about why it is essential for the business community to understand the opportunity that is COP15.
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#COP15 #Biodiversity #Nature #Environment #Sustainability #NetZero
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Some great pictures from the team at @centara_ltd out on-site surveying with a laser scanner.
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🤝 @facaderemedialconsultants' Managing Director has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove to highlight concerns around new regulations such as the Building Safety Act 2022 and the developers’ pledge – Mr Gove’s bid to reset building safety in England.
Find out what he requested in our bio!
#Housing #Building #Construction #Safety #Home #Development
🌍 COP15, the upcoming UN biodiversity summit, aims to set out a plan for how countries will work together to achieve a nature-positive world by 2030.
🤝Our panel of experts will debate:
✔ key discussion points highlighted so far during COP15
✔ progress made towards a robust nature-positive action plan
✔ what living in harmony with nature looks like for future generations
✔ how living in harmony with nature can look different around the world.
💡 Join the COP conversation as RSK reports live from COP15!
Register for our free webinar in our bio!
#RoutetoCOP15 #Biodiversity #Nature #Sustainability #COP15 #Sustainable
💧 Actively restoring rivers by reinstating natural river processes will play a vital role in helping offset the global freshwater biodiversity crisis.
💡 In this insight, Dr Hamish Moir and Peter Downs from @cbec_eco_engineering_uk, an RSK company, explore how sustainable approaches to river management can help protect us from flooding and droughts.
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#Biodiversity #Climate #Water #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Floods #Droughts
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Jiano Pulickal from @structuralsoils took Bertie Bear around the site for the day!
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#RSKgroup #behindthescenes #meettheteam #RSKfamily #RSKonsite #culture #construction