Ground trial

Engineers are trialling a technique to clean up an area of highly contaminated soil in Shawfield, Glasgow.

Ground engineering specialists from Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering (BBGE) were appointed by engineering and environmental consultants, the URS Corporation, to conduct the trial.

The project will test the use of calcium polysulfide, a chemical from the agricultural industry, as a way of remediating land contaminated with Chromite Ore Processing Residue, a problem found in many former industrial locations around the world.

The residue contains the highly toxic chromium Cr(VI). Traditional methods of remediating Cr(VI) contaminated land have had limited success in converting the chemical to the less harmful Cr(III).

If successful, the BBGE trial could have significant implications for the remediation of Cr(VI) contaminated land worldwide. The project is being observed by the environmental think-tank CL:AIRE (Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments).

‘As far as I am aware, this is the first time this method has been trialled in the UK and it has huge potential for our industry if it goes well,’ said Ian Gatenby, geoenvironmental director for BBGE.