Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
reduced. At the same time, this experience has shown that some routes to achieving
fit-for-use land have been found to be less desirable than they were believed to be
in 1998. These roadmaps illustrate that contaminated land management as a sector
has developed significantly in the last ten years as a result of greater knowledge
and experience as well as the benefit gained from different stakeholders working
together across Europe, a process that NICOLE has helped to initiate and develop.
One end result of such cooperation has been the realisation that effective manage-
ment of contaminated land requires more than just a technical solution in order to
be successful, but also strategic planning.
24.3 A Strategic Approach to Contaminated Site Management:
The End State Vision
When faced with a contamination issue such as a groundwater plume, many reme-
diation project teams concentrate on the immediate issue at hand and a technical
approach which offers an actual solution or improvement. However, also the strate-
gic discussion on long-term use of the site needs to be included in the choice of the
remediation.
A strategic approach requires the definition of an endpoint for the remediation
of the site, which in turn requires an answer to the question “what does the future
of the site look like?” For example, the plan could be to come to full site closure
with no remaining liabilities, or, alternatively, to continued operation with no risks
for site operators and downstream users. An “End State Vision” relates to a very
high level concept. Consequently, its development requires the gathering of many
stakeholders' views and a consideration of issues beyond pure technical solutions.
This end state vision requires that the remediation team has knowledge of the
future of the site and of the wishes and needs of the stakeholders. Especially for
large (former) industrial sites this is a complex exercise, which will lead to an “opti-
mised” end vision as it is generally impossible to satisfy all stakeholders at all fronts.
Once the End State Vision has been formalized, the remediation strategy and all
techniques and methods associated with it can be developed. In many cases the
remediation team has a range of techniques to select from. The choice of remedial
technique depends on many factors which in part are non-technical. The selection
is influenced by the experience of the project team, the consultant and local regula-
tor. Also the timeframe and “predictability” of the technique influence the decision.
Too often a quick solution such as dig and haul, is preferred over a longer term,
more sustainable, solution because the stakeholders are uncomfortable with the -
perceived- uncertainty. For many sites the technical approach is just a minor part
of the solution. There are many other non-technical considerations that can have a
major impact on a project: examples include financial considerations (e.g., the value
of property, the cost of remediation), social considerations (e.g., the interests of
neighbours, agencies, employees, shareholders), temporal considerations (e.g. time
of occupancy of a site, imminent sale, redevelopment schedule), and legal considera-
tions (e.g., existing or upcoming legal schemes or contractual arrangements between
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