THE PROBLEM
Soil or sediment contamination by metals and/or persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is discovered when, for example, the land is to be used for housing or industrial redevelopment. Remediation is necessary when metals like mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic or chromium, or persistent organic compounds like dioxins, PCBs, DDTs or PAHs have contaminated the soil. There are approximately 22,000 such areas in Sweden and remediation costs have been estimated at SEK 25 billion or more using traditional techniques (exchanging the material for one that is easier to handle, use of chemicals to transform the pollutants into less hazardous forms of chemicals, or high-temperature combustion).
HOW CAN THE PROGRAMME CONTRIBUTE TO A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM?
There is a great need for cost-effective methods of remediating old, contaminated industrial sites in a Nordic climate. The programme evaluates and develops biological, chemical and physical treatment methods - combinations of them - of soil remediation in a cold, Nordic climate. The work is based on the problems in two areas where remediation is difficult - an old gasworks site, which is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and a chemicals factory site, EKA Chemicals, contaminated with mercury and polychlorinated dibenzofurans. The aim is to be able to restore the sites and give them a "clean bill of health", in order to recuperate valuable natural resources of considerable economic value. Greater room for manoeuvre in land use and physical planning is therefore a powerful driving-force. In addition, it may give Sweden a technical advantage, internationally speaking. Biological remediation methods must be adapted to the climate and on-site physical conditions and remediation techniques designed for a cold climate could be exported to other countries in northern Europe, with the added bonus of creating more jobs in Sweden. If the methods that are currently being tested can be put to practical, large-scale use, it will allow sites to be remediated at considerably less cost than previously.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE RESULTS?
The construction industry. Real estate and housing companies, environmental engineering companies, central, regional and local authorities responsible for building, planning and issues relating to the environment and natural resources in general.