Sustainable Site Assessment and Remediation – Objects To ...aclca.org.au/sa-docs/sa-presentation--151117.pdf · environmental, economic and social indicators, that the benefit of

Sustainable Site Assessment and Remediation –Objects To Act On Presented to ACLCA SA November 2015

Contents

Sustainable development and sustainable remediation 01

Sustainable remediation forums 02

Planning sustainable site assessment and remediation 03

Case study - START 04

Sustainability rating schemes 05

Date November 2015 A presentation to ACLCA SA

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01Sustainable development and sustainable remediation

Sustainable developmentBruntland report


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“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Brundtland report, (1987) – World Commission on Environment Development

Sustainable developmentInternational Standard ISO 26000 Guidance on social responsibility

States that sustainable development is about:

“integrating the goals of a high quality of life, health and prosperity with

social justice and maintaining the earth's capacity to support life in all its

diversity”

These are social, economic and environmental goals which are:

• Interdependent; and

• Mutually reinforcing


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Sustainable developmentAustralian national strategy for ecologically sustainable development

Defines ecologically sustainable development as:

“using, conserving and enhancing the community's resources so that

ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total

quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased”

The core objectives of the strategy are:

• To enhance individual and community well-being and welfare by following a path of economic development that safeguards the welfare of future generations

• To provide for equity within and between generations

• To protect biological diversity and maintain essential ecological processes and life-support systems


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Sustainable developmentObjects of South Australian Environment Protection Act

Objects of the Environment Protection Act are:

• to promote the principles of ESD

• to protect, restore and enhance the quality of

the environment having regard to the

principles of ESD


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Sustainable developmentTime line


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Planning > Assessment > Remediation > Construction > Operation > Disuse

AssessmentOperation

Sustainable site assessment and remediation


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The selection and implementation of site/risk assessment methodologies and risk mitigation measures in order to balance social, environmental and economic aspects

Sustainable site assessment and remediation


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The fundamental principles of sustainable SAR are:

• Safe working practices

• Consistent, clear and reproducible evidence based decision making

• Record keeping and transparent reporting

• Good governance and stakeholder involvement

• Sound science and evidence base

• No unacceptable risks to human health or the environment


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02Sustainable remediation forums

International OrganisationsGlobal Sustainable Remediation Forums

Sustainable Remediation Forum set up in the US in 2006

• The mission of SURF is to maximize the overall environmental, societal, and economic benefits from the site clean-up process

SuRF-UK inaugural meeting in 2008

• Defines sustainable remediation as “the

practice of demonstrating, in terms of

environmental, economic and social

indicators, that the benefit of undertaking

remediation is greater than its impact and

that the optimum remediation solution is

selected through the use of a balanced

decision-making process”

Date November 2015A presentation to ACLCA SA

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Many similar SuRF organisations now established around the world


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Since 2013 the various SuRF organisations and NICOLE have had quarterly teleconferences hosted by CL:AIRE in order to share recent developments, papers, guidelines and experiences


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The global SuRF network supports The Sustainable Remediation Conference (SUSTREM) which occurs every 2 to 3 years

Next conference in Montreal in April 2016

SuRF ANZSustainable Remediation Forum Australia and New Zealand

SuRF ANZ’s achievements include:

• Ongoing development of a Framework for Sustainable Remediation

• Establishing SuRF ANZ policy in consultation with SuRF ANZ members

• Providing web-base sustainable remediation tools

• Organising meetings and forums for sustainable remediation dialogues

• Facilitating contact with international sustainable remediation associations

• Contributing to a national remediation framework (NRF) currently being developed through CRC CARE

More information: www.surfanz.com.au


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03Planning sustainable site assessment and remediation

Draft ISO/CD 18505Soil Quality – Guidance on Sustainable Remediation

International Standard in preparation with the intention of providing

guidance about contemporary understanding of sustainable

remediation and in particular provide:

• Standard methodology, terminology and information about the key

components and aspects of sustainable remediation assessment.

• Informative advice on the assessment of the relative sustainability of

alternative remediation strategies


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SuRF ANZPlanning working group 2013

Planning working group:

• Rebecca Hughes – SA EPA (Chair)

• Christina Bicksler – AECOM QLD

• Bill Butler – ERM NSW

• Raghava Dasika – URS VIC

• David Tully – Coffey SA

Produce guidance for the systematic consideration of sustainable remedial action

objectives in the preparation of Remediation Action Plans (or their equivalent),

including technology screening, evaluation, selection and implementation, application

of sustainability metrics and comparison of sustainability outcomes


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Planning sustainable SARFollow principles of ecologically sustainable development


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Environmental Social Economic

Impacts on air Human health and safety Direct economic costs and

benefits

Impacts on soil and ground

conditions

Ethical and equality

considerations

Indirect economic costs and

benefits

Impacts on groundwater

and surface waters

Impacts on neighbourhoods

or regions

Employment and

employment capital

Impacts on ecology Community involvement

and satisfaction

Gearing

Use of natural resources

and generation of wastes

Compliance with policy

objectives and strategies

Life span and project risks

Intrusiveness Uncertainty and evidence Project flexibility

Site contamination assessment and remediation action objectives should be considered in relation to the 18 Sustainability Indicators provided by SuRF UK and included in the draft SuRF ANZ framework (April 2011)

Planning sustainable SARConceptual Site Model Development

• The aim of every stage of the site assessment process should be to develop and refine a robust conceptual site model for the site under consideration

• The data collection process should consider relevant social, environmental and economic issues related to potential contaminants at the site

• All stages of environmental site assessments should be planned and implemented to minimiseenvironmental and socioeconomic impacts and burdens and to maximise economic and social values

• Social, environmental and economic data gathered during initial development of the CSM can be utilised to facilitate planning of sustainable site assessment as this process proceeds through various phases

• The social, environmental and economic aspects within the CSM can be utilised to plan and develop a sustainable remediation strategy to mitigate potential risks posed by complete or (potentially complete) exposure pathways identified in the CSM

• Social, environmental and economic aspects should be considered on completion of each stage and tier of risk assessment to determine if it is more sustainable to continue with higher tiers of risk assessment or progress to remediation


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Planning sustainable SARAssessment of site contamination NEPM

Numerous references economic, social and environmental aspects:

• Schedule B2 Section 15 relates to protection of the environment during site assessment.

• Schedule B8 devoted to community engagement and risk communication


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Volume 1 Section 6 relates to assessment of site contamination principles

Principle 16 relates to options for site clean-up and/or management.

ASC NEPM amendment of 2013 included insertion of:

“When deciding which option to choose, the sustainability (environmental, economic and social) of each option should be considered, in terms of achieving an appropriate balance between the benefits and effects of undertaking the option”

Planning sustainable SARUsing tools in the planning process

A range of tools, metrics and methods are available for undertaking an evaluation, screening and selection of appropriate sustainable remediation methodologies


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• Existing metrics & criteria:

� Implementability

� Effectiveness

� Risk reduction

� Economic cost

• Supplemental metrics:

� Air emissions

� Energy usage

� Resource service

� Materials consumption

� Landfill

Planning sustainable SARRole of site contamination auditor

Guidelines for the site contamination audit system are under revision.

July 2015 draft provides additional guidance on the aims of the audit system to provide:

• “a framework to facilitate sustainable development with due consideration of financial, social and environmental aspects of site contamination assessment and remediation”


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The draft guidelines indicate that auditors are expected to:

• consider the objects of the Act and apply the principles of risk-based decision making when carrying out an audit;

• ensure adequate assessment and remediation is carried out but only to the point needed for the auditor to make appropriately informed risk based decisions in accordance with the guidance provided in the ASC NEPM;

• identify where any works (proposed by a consultant) are beyond that which is needed for the auditor to make that decision;

• be able to explain to any person why the auditor has requested any aspect of the work.


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04Case study – START

Sustainable Thermal Aerobic Remediation Treatment

START (Sustainable Thermal Aerobic Remediation Treatment)Basic principles

1Date November 2015A presentation to ACLCA SA

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Recirculates contaminated groundwater

• Increases distribution of added amendments

• Improves dissolved oxygen distribution

Heats groundwater

• Increases metabolic rate of indigenous

hydrocarbon degrading microbes

• Reduces the viscosity of heavy fraction TPHs

Solar operated

• Carbon neutral energy supply

• Low operation & maintenance requirements

STARTSchematic of the process

1Date November 2015A presentation to ACLCA SA

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Solar

Powered

Pumps

Venturi

(eductors)

Solar Pool Heaters

Case study - STARTTo reality


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START (Sustainable Thermal Aerobic Remediation Treatment)Site situation/setting

• Former retail petroleum site in WA

• Diffuse residual source zone (post

UST & vadose zone excavation)

• Highly permeability (sandy) site

• Limited budget

• Strict closure requirements


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STARTSustainable features


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Sustainability Element Attributes

Environmental • No greenhouse gas emissions

• Low use of natural resources and mainly re-usable

• No vapour emissions

• No waste products

Social • Limited disruption to site and surrounding receptors

• Upholds polluter pays principle

• Limited impact on neighbours and nearby sites

• Noise free

Economic • Costs about the same as one or two chemical

amendment injection phases

• Limited O&M costs

• Improved remediation timeframes = less GMEs & earlier

divestment

STARTOutcomes and developments to date

START system was operational in December 2014 and has made significant progress

• Recirculated around 6 million litres of groundwater (25kg of hydrocarbons)

• Groundwater temperature within flowpath has increased by 3oC above ambient


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Groundwater within recirculation system has increased by 5oC, compared to seasonal increase of 2oC

outside system

∆T ~ 5oC

∆T ~ 2oC






• Hydrocarbon concentrations in heavily impacted wells closest to the reinjection points

have decreased by between one and two orders of magnitude


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TPH C6-C9 concentrations (µg/L)







• Hydrocarbon concentrations in the recirculating groundwater increased over the first 3

months and are now decreasing


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TPH C6-C9 concentrations (µg/L) Alkalinity (mg/L)









• Significant improvement in MNA parameters


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Decreased electron acceptor demand in some wells where TPH

• Nitrate is increasing

• Dissolved iron is decreasing









• Significant improvement in MNA parameters

• Limited scheduled and unscheduled operations & maintenance

• Provisional Patent application (no. 2015900954) filed with the Australian Patent Office


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STARTSuRF-ANZ Sustainable Remediation Project Recognition Award

Recognition Award which aims to encourage discussion, consideration, and uptake of sustainability principles in remediation, and to reinforce ALGA and SuRF-ANZ support for high quality remediation planning and practice


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SuRF-ANZ Recognition Award Winner 2015


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05Sustainability rating schemes

Sustainability rating schemesGreen Buildings Council of Australia (GBCA)

GBCA is a national, not-for-profit organisation that is committed to developing a sustainable property industry for Australia by encouraging the adoption of green building practices

Developed Green Star rating tools help the property industry to reduce the environmental impact of buildings, improve occupant health and productivity and achieve cost savings


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www.gbca.org.au

Sustainability rating schemesGreen Buildings Council of Australia (GBCA)

Criteria relating to reclaimed and contaminated land now reward on-site best practice in soil remediation

The following conditions are to be met:

• The site was contaminated such that the uses permitted under the relevant planning scheme were initially precluded

• The developer has adopted a best practice remediation strategy

• The remediation strategy is signed off by and auditor prior to issue of the occupation certificate


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www.gbca.org.au

The auditor report forms the main part of the submission for this criterion of the credit

Sustainability rating schemesCoffey World Park, Keswick


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Sustainability rating schemesInfrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA)

ISCA is a member-based not-for-profit public and private industry council for advancing sustainability outcomes in infrastructure

Developed the Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) rating scheme for evaluating sustainability across design, construction and operation of infrastructure


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www.isca.org.au

Sustainability rating schemesInfrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA)

The scheme rewards projects that assess contamination and perform sustainable remediation

Level 1 – Site assessment in accordance with ASC NEPM and remediation options are identified and selected using a sustainability hierarchy

Level 2 – As Level 1 plus sustainability appraisal of remediation options is undertaken against SuRF-ANZ Sustainability Indicators; using multi-criteria analysis or other scored or quantified means; and a site assessment audited by qualified independent specialist


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www.isca.org.au

Level 3 – As Level 2 and the effectiveness and durability of the remedial solution, and maintenance and monitoring, have been considered over the life time of the infrastructure and beyond; and remediation appraisal and selection audited by qualified independent specialist

Sustainability rating schemesTorrens to Torrens


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www.isca.org.au Source: www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au

ConclusionsSustainable Site Assessment and Remediation

The concept of Sustainable Development is well established and has been at the core of Australian environmental legislation for over two decades.

Fundamental to this is the need to consider social, economic and environmental aspects in planning and implementation of works to address our site contamination legacy.

Our understanding has now developed such that we have the tools, methods, appreciation and decision making processes to undertake site assessment and remediation which meets our needs but does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet theirs.


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Now all we have to do is implement and improve them!

More informationFeel free to contact me………


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[email protected]

Dr David TullyCoffey

Level 1, 33 Richmond Road, Keswick SA 5065

08 8375 4400 or 0410 012 292

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Sustainable Site Assessment and Remediation – Objects To ...aclca.org.au/sa-docs/sa-presentation--151117.pdf · environmental, economic and social indicators, that the benefit of