"The Mound" Remediation

TRC London was commissioned by Weedon Bec Parish Council to support it in remediating an area of public open space contaminated with asbestos and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). TRC provided litigation support to aid the Council’s claim for cleanup costs and provided environmental oversight of the remediation work.

 

Project Challenges
In 2014, under its statutory duties, Daventry District Council had instructed Weedon Bec Parish Council to undertake investigation and remediation of an area of the Jubilee Playing Fields known as “the Mound.”

The Mound had a known history of containing deleterious materials and suspected UXO. Anecdotal reports from local residents indicated the Mound was formed of materials arising from the demolition of nearby military buildings.

Following investigation and identification of asbestos contamination, the Parish Council set out to remove the contamination from the soils and cap the site to render it safe. However, the work was suspended when the contractor encountered live hand grenades with the soil at the site. It was deemed unsafe to continue and the site was fenced and secured with round-the-clock manned security.

 

Our Solution
In 2017, TRC was engaged by the Parish Council’s legal advisor to develop a strategy for remediating the site and to provide professional environmental support to aid its negotiation with the Ministry of Defence and Defence Infrastructure Organisation to provide a settlement sum to cover the costs of clean-up.

The TRC strategy was based upon complete removal of the Mound to provide a restored site that could be returned to beneficial community use. The goal was to ensure removal of contamination that could present an ongoing risk and liability to the council, but also to completely eliminate any future concern regarding UXO that may be present within the materials.

The earthwork comprised careful excavation of approximately 3,000 square meters of contaminated materials. The remediation work was undertaken by TRC’s remediation partner, Symbiotic Solutions Limited.

The work included excavation and sorting of the waste materials to segregate the asbestos from the soils to reduce waste disposal costs. This was achieved through manual sorting and hand picking, which was carried out by trained asbestos operatives. This hazardous waste was segregated and removed from site as a separate waste stream. All excavation and segregation works were performed under the supervision of an UXO specialist.

Once segregated, the soils could be classified as non-hazardous and were removed from site for disposal in licenced waste disposal facilities. By reducing the overall classification of the materials, TRC was able to offer considerable cost savings to the client, which meant that the project was viable.

 

The Outcome
Where there was previously risk and uncertainty associated with this site, TRC was able to design and implement a remediation strategy that was both economically viable and resulted in the elimination of risk associated with the contamination and UXO. The site area has been grassed and handed back to the local community, which is planning beneficial use comprising sports areas, a children’s play park or a community garden.

 

Client
Weedon Bec Parish Council

Project Location
Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, UK