Olympic Park lab helps site clean up

Over 800,000 cubic metres of soil, taken from the 2.5sq km site, is being cleaned so it can be reused to help create the landscape of the Olympic Park. The site used to be a heavy industrial area so much of the soil is contaminated with substances such as oil, petrol, tar, arsenic and lead.

Specialist staff based in the lab are testing the soil for levels of contamination using state-of-the-art equipment. Ground and surface water, and air across the site are also being monitored to check for contamination.

Progress on the clean up is being checked each week. Approximately 1,000 surface and ground water and 5,400 atmospheric samples have already been taken.

Olympic Delivery Authority Director of Infrastructure and Utilities Simon Wright said: ‘With this laboratory on site we are able to use cutting edge technology to quickly tell when soil needs to be cleaned and when it’s clean enough for reuse on site.

‘The team of scientists are also helping us ensure the safety of local people and the site workforce and protect the environment as we transform a neglected corner of east London.’

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