A Stakeholder’s Perspective on Contaminated Land Management - Dealing with Contaminated Sites: From Theory Towards Practical Application - page 1066

POM
POM
POC
Fig. 24.2 Conceptual model for the Rotterdam Port area, indicating the groundwater flow ( black
arrows ), the planes of monitoring (POM) and the plane of compliance (POC)
receptors in danger of receiving contamination at the Rotterdam megasite due to the
direction of groundwater flow (Fig. 24.2 ).
The overall quality of the surface water has been found to be only “marginally”
affected by the contaminant plumes in groundwater. Therefore the focus is on
groundwater as the most important receptor to protect. In accordance with the
requirements of the draft GWD, the DCMR Environmental Protection Agency ,as
the environmental authority of the Port of Rotterdam area, and representatives
of the industry in the Port of Rotterdam (united in the Deltalinqs organisation )
have together developed an approach to verify that groundwater plumes from
contaminated sites do not expand.
To protect the surrounding groundwater body, planes of monitoring (POM) and
planes of compliance (POC) have been defined. The POC forms the boundary
between the partly impacted groundwater zone beneath the port and the surround-
ing groundwater zone that needs to be protected. The lower boundary of the POC
is defined by the boundary between the Pleistocene aquifer and the low permeable
clay-rich layer beneath (aquitard). The groundwater zone enclosed by the POC pro-
vides time and space for Natural Attenuation processes and the management of the
plume. To protect the surrounding groundwater zone, contaminant concentrations
are compared to legislative standards at the POC itself, and if necessary followed by
adequate remediation measures. The two POMs are intended to monitor the trends
and the processes in the plume and function as an early warning for a possible future
impact to the POC. In case of an uncontrolled plume expansion, measures can be
taken at an early stage. This approach is currently being tested at pilot scale with a
number of companies in the port area.