Soil Remediation at Schweizerhalle - A Case Study

Abstract

After a storage facility of a chemical plant caught fire, an area of approx 10’000 m2 was contaminated with about 9000 kg of pesticides (mainly phosphoric esters) and about 130 kg of mercury in the form of organic compounds that leached into the ground with part of the fire-fighting water. Based on this damage, the first part of the paper will cover the concept for the development of an integral solution aimed at the reutilization without constraints of the site. The philosophy behind this soil remediation project is not to achieve a minimum nor a maximum degree of cleanliness, but to find a technically feasible, politically and economically acceptable as well as environmentally sound solution. The experience gained in the last four years covers the following areas: Immediate measures for groundwater, risk analysis, soil remediation process, clean-up process (soil washing), disposal, logistics, analytics, safety monitoring and costs. The second part of the paper presents the preventive measures in the area of warehousing for dangerous goods and the resulting consequences for the construction of warehouses according to new guidelines.

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This chapter is based on the article “Sicheres Lagern - Erfahrungen einer Chemiefirma” by Dr. U. Widmer, Vicedirector, Sandoz Technologie AG, Basle, published in Textilverordnung 23 ({dy1988}), No.6.