UIE 5807
URBAN WATERSHED
MANAGEMENT
03 credit hours
• Dr Qaiser Iqbal
qaiser@[Link]
Assistant Professor
CED UET Peshawar
Before North Sea Gas was discovered in the
1960’s, almost every town in the UK had a
Gasworks, where gas was extracted from
coal.
The chemical processes produced toxic by-
products, many of which still exist in the
ground.
WHAT are they? WHERE are they ? Am I in danger ?
Old Gasworks in England :
chemicals contaminating the ground
UIE 5807 : Course Content
• This course will provide an introduction to the problems
associated with assessment of contaminated land by
assessing if there is a problem on the site or not,
• We will learn how to assess the scale of the problem and
the risk associated with re-using the land.
• The work will include studies of guidelines for
assessment for contaminated land used in the UK based
on current legislation from the British Standards and
Health and Safety Executive. These require that a “risk-
based” approach used to identify what risks are
associated with using a contaminated site
Content
• Students will be introduced to formal qualitative and
quantative methods for risk assessment
• You will gain experienced in the creation of basic time-
line impact (path) models (the effect on a target for a
given source).
• A key aspect of this is the uncertainty of the position,
concentration and fate of contaminants in the ground.
• We will use methods and simulation using Monte Carlo
techniques using software such as “Crystal Ball”. This
statistical approach allows us to quantify risk.
Content
• Techniques for remediation of contaminated sites will
be described.
• Assessment Methods used in other countries such as
the USA, Canada and The Netherlands will also be
described.
• At the end of the course students will have an overall
appreciation of the issues confronting users of
contaminated land, how the risks are assessed and how
these risks are minimised.
Subjects covered
• BACKGROUND TO CONTAMINATED LAND &
LEGISLATION
• CONTAMINANTS IN THE GROUND
• ASSESSING RISK ASSOCIATED WITH
CONTAMINATED LAND
• REMEDIATION STRATEGIES AND CASE
STUDIES
Assessment Details
• Examination – mid and final term exam
(75% of marks)
• Coursework – Computer Modelling of Risk
Assessment (25% of marks).
• Coursework is set in week 5 semester 1
Books
No single textbook is essential for this course but
if you are interested in a future career in this
subject, these will be useful:
• “Watershed: Processes, assessment and
management”, by Paul A. DeBarry, Wiley 2004
• “Risk based Contaminated Land Investigation
and Assessment” by Petts et al . Wiley 1997.
• “Contaminated Land problems and Solutions” by
Cairney. Blackie 1993.
Fridge mountain…
..to Olympic park
Contaminated land
An introduction
Our industrial “heritage” includes many waste products
from over 100 years ago…
.. What were these chemicals ?
…Where were they ?
..remember that many industrial sites have been used for
different chemical processes..
…abandoned sites rarely have records of what was used or
where it was stored
NEWS RELEASE
DECEMBER 21, 1995
OCCIDENTAL TO PAY $129
MILLION IN LOVE CANAL
SETTLEMENT
A successful end to a toxic dump disaster that
became synonymous with the hazards of
environmental pollution, and that gave birth to
the USA’s Superfund program to clean up the
most hazardous toxic waste sites.
Love Canal – near Niagara Falls, USA
• A canal that was never finished
• It was used to dump 20,000 tons
of chemicals between 1920-1950
• Primary School and houses built
in 1954
• Surveys in 1970’s found toxic
chemical residues in many
houses at the southern end of the
canal and high levels of PCB's in
the storm sewer system.
• All houses and school
demolished and large clean up
operation carried out in 1990’s
News (ctd)
• the Justice Department and the Environmental
Protection Agency announced today that the
Occidental Chemical Corporation will pay the
government $129 million.
• This will cover the costs of the Love Canal
incident that began in the late 1970's.
• 16 years ago after a toxic waste nightmare
forced the evacuation of more than one
thousand homes, an elementary school and an
entire neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York.
PROBLEM : Very often we don’t know what is in the
ground
Hydrocarbons under a 1860’s gasworks site
..how far have these moved in the last 150 years?
Key phrases you will get to know
• SOURCE (of the contamination)
• PATH (where contamination travels
how it travels, what happens to it along its
route through the ground)
• TARGET (who or what might be affected
by the contamination)
Groundwater flow can transport contaminants to pumped
drinking water wells
Source --- Path --- Target
Source --- Path --- Target
Source --- Path --- Target
A site investigation can scope the extent and possible future
movement of contaminants
Contaminant plume from an aeroplane re-fuelling station at
the end of a military runway
Key phrases you will get to know
• Suitability for use. Re-using contaminated sites
in an appropriate manner
• PART 2a of Section 57 of the 1990
Environmental Protection Act
• RISK
what is the chance that the contamination will
affect somebody/something?
Pressure to re-develop Brownfield sites. Would you live
here if you knew what had been there before ?
..it was a garage with leaking underground petrol tanks.
“Part 2a”
This is the key legislation that affects our decision making.
Contaminated Land is defined in the UK as:
“Any land which appears to the Local Authority in
whose area it is situated to be in a condition, by
reason of substances in, on or under the land, that :
Significant Harm is being caused or there is a
significant probability of such harm being caused, or
pollution of controlled water is being or is likely to
be caused.”
Brown field sites
• 90% of brown field sites are not a problem.
• But developers/landowners are responsible
under the legislation.
• Therefore it is irresponsible to NOT assess the
risk associated with possible contaminated land.
• Because the polluter (or the landowner) will
have to pay for the clean up .
• The cost can be £50-200 per cubic metre of soil
Reclamation of a contaminated gas works site
– St Mary’s Stadium.
Pride Park, Derby
• Pride Park in Derby is an 80ha site that was
formerly heavily contaminated, being the site of
the city's gasworks, heavy engineering works,
gravel extraction and an industrial/domestic
landfill.
• 70% of the site has been transformed from a
derelict polluted area into a successful
commercial development providing over 4,000
jobs.
Pride Park, Derby
The work included
• desk studies,
• site investigation,
• risk assessment,
• consultation with statutory authorities,
• detailed design and specification of
3km of cutoff walls to trap groundwater
• groundwater treatment
• gas venting
• ground reclamation for new buildings
Olympic games 2012
• The main site for the 2012 Games , the Lower Lea
Valley, is the largest area of derelict and contaminated
land in the capital and part of the Thames Gateway
Strategy, the largest brownfield development scheme in
Europe.
• The site was mainly dominated by low-grade industry
such as car breakers yards, distribution sheds, and bus
yards, as well as previously being the site of Europe's
largest fridge mountain.
Olympic White Water Canoe Slalom Course site
Artist’s impression of site
Olympic games 2012
• The whole area will require a large remediation
operation, which would be funded through a
central government budget of £800 million,
before the Olympic park can commence.
• Remediation of the contaminated soil would
mostly take place on site, with bioremediation
playing a major part, developers anticipate.
Fridge mountain…
..to Olympic park
