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Regeneration of Olympic Park accelerates

18 July 2007

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) today launched one of the UK’s most challenging land clean-up jobs to clear the 2.5 square kilometre Olympic Park site of contamination that has built up through over a century of neglect and heavy industrial use.

  • heavy metals, such as arsenic and lead
  • hydrocarbons, such as petrol, diesel and oil
  • ammonia and coal tar
  • asbestos
  • Japanese knotweed
  • Contamination was assessed to support the 2004 planning applications for the Olympic Park site. In the past year the ODA has investigated contamination over three quarters of the site, including surface and deep level soil testing, nothing unexpected has been found. Over 1900 of the planned 2700 borehole and shallow trenches have been dug and tested. Site investigations are continuing across the rest of the site, as we gain vacant possession throughout July, including asbestos surveys in buildings ahead of demolition.
  • Soil washing will be used to treat most of the estimated 800,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil. Machines add water to soil and separate it from contamination by either shaking or leaving it to settle and filtering out clean sand or gravel that is safe to reuse. In some instances chemicals are added to the water to tackle particular types of contamination. The water is reused after being treated. A small amount of concentrated waste from the process is squeezed to reduce its water content and it is then taken to a licensed landfill.
  • In some instances other treatment methods may be used. If soil contains just petrol related substances (petroleum hydrocarbons) and no other contamination it may be treated by bioremediation. This involves storing the soil in large concrete containers and adding oxygen help breakdown the contamination naturally, a process similar to composting. Some kinds of contamination will be contained where it is, using a process of chemical stabilization to trap contaminants under the ground and prevent them leaking into the ground water system.
  • The ODA's tier 1 contractors are cleaning and clearing the Olympic Park and managing tier 2 contractors that will carry out the soil treatment. Edmund Nuttall in the south of the Olympic Park site has appointed DEC. Morrisson have appointed Blackwell Remediation in the north.
  • Contamination was assessed to support the 2004 planning applications for the Olympic Park site. In the past year the ODA has investigated contamination over three quarters of the site, including surface and deep level soil testing, nothing unexpected has been found. Over 1900 of the planned 2700 borehole and shallow trenches have been dug and tested. Site investigations are continuing across the rest of the site, as we gain vacant possession throughout July, including asbestos surveys in buildings ahead of demolition.
  • Soil washing will be used to treat most of the estimated 800,000 cubic metres of contaminated soil. Machines add water to soil and separate it from contamination by either shaking or leaving it to settle and filtering out clean sand or gravel that is safe to reuse. In some instances chemicals are added to the water to tackle particular types of contamination. The water is reused after being treated. A small amount of concentrated waste from the process is squeezed to reduce its water content and it is then taken to a licensed landfill.
  • In some instances other treatment methods may be used. If soil contains just petrol related substances (petroleum hydrocarbons) and no other contamination it may be treated by bioremediation. This involves storing the soil in large concrete containers and adding oxygen help breakdown the contamination naturally, a process similar to composting. Some kinds of contamination will be contained where it is, using a process of chemical stabilization to trap contaminants under the ground and prevent them leaking into the ground water system.
  • The ODA's tier 1 contractors are cleaning and clearing the Olympic Park and managing tier 2 contractors that will carry out the soil treatment. Edmund Nuttall in the south of the Olympic Park site has appointed DEC. Morrisson have appointed Blackwell Remediation in the north.

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