CONTAMINATED SOILS DEPARTMENT (ASC)
SOIL PROTECTION
The protection of the soil as a resource, the preservation and recovery of its functionality and the contribution to achieving the sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda have promoted in recent years a specific regulatory development and an advance in a standardized methodology for the identification, characterization and recovery of contaminated soils. At the state level, this development materializes especially in Royal Decree 9/2005, Law 26/2007 on environmental responsibility and in Title VIII of Law 7/2022, on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy. At the regional level, there are several autonomies that have approved specific sectoral legislation for the development of this legal regime, including the publication of Generic Reference Levels (GRL), as well as the publication of methodological guides.
ACTIVITIES
Identifying activities that could potentially pollute soil, establishing Generic Reference Levels (GRL) according to the soil use and the definition of criteria to tackle the assessment of environmental risks are all key elements leading to this legislative advance.
Incorporating groundwater and the development, through a competent hydraulic administration, of an equivalent structure to characterise and evaluate the level of quality is considered a necessity given the inseparable link between both resources (soil and ground water). Even more so as on occasion groundwater is far more vulnerable when faced with situations where soil is affected or contaminated and therefore compromising its functionality and potential utilisation.
SPECIALISTS
The Environmental Division within ADIEGO HERMANOS S.A. has at its disposal a Contaminated Soils Department (ASC) which specialises in the characterisation of soil and groundwater at potentially contaminated sites. This team then evaluates the environmental risks and the development of global technical solutions which allow for the remediation of these contaminated areas.
For those carrying out potentially contaminating activities or who own a site which hosts such activities, the repercussions deriving from these studies can be of far-reaching importance at a juristic level as well as affecting the economic situation, the corporate image and the social impact. Aware of these circumstances, ASC’s activities in ADIEGO HERMANOS S.A. and the commitment to the objectives and necessities of our clients are all geared towards the main principles of technical specialisation, impartiality and our integral commitment to the framework of our activities.
CERTIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTION BODY (soils and associated groundwater)
The environmental study and characterisation of a site when declaring the quality of the soil and or associated groundwater constitutes a key stage in the scheme of integral soil protection. At first glance, identifying relevant polluting substances, determining if they are present or not, estimating the concentration present and, where appropriate, spatially delimiting the detected alteration, all represent objectives associated to the inspection process that provide the necessary information to evaluate the soil’s condition according to its uses and the need to address a risk assessment.
The Contaminated Soil Department (ASC) is an inspection body certified under the norm ENAC UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17020, within the scope of soil and associated groundwater.
In order to consult the up-to-date version of the Technical Annex associated with the terms of accreditation, please click here
Services:
- Preliminary and periodic reports on the soil situation
- Exploratory or detailed charaterisation studies
- Sampling programmes to verify the soil and or groundwater quality after recuperation measures
- Environmental data updates
ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ANALYSIS
Declaring soil as contaminated and the relevant consequences for the holders or owners deriving from this situation indicate an unacceptable risk situation.
ADIEGO HERMANOS, S.A. supplies our clients with a specialised technical team for this type of analysis equipped with the most high-tech calculating tools and computer modelling currently available in the environmental sector for Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA).
Conceptual risk model
- Risk scenario approach
- Selecting contaminants of interest and their respective concentrations
- Quantitative risk assessment (toxic and carcinogenic)
Approach to decision-making and target levels
- Potential risk assessment and defining critical routes of exposure
- Differential contribution of determined pollutants to the calculated global risk
- Alternative scenario simulations
- To target benchmark concentrations of soil quality by developing the remediation processes
DECONTAMINATION AND RECUPERATION OF SOIL QUALITY
Clean-up: combination of technical solutions and engineering intended to reduce the pollutant load to compatible levels with its expected use and specifically formed quality objectives
- Design and administrative management of voluntary or regulatory remediation projects.
- Implementation and environmental supervision of selective ex-situ digging projects and authorised waste management.
- Pump units and hydrocarbon plume treatment.
- Selective free product remediation techniques using interception barriers, skimming devices in extraction wells and liability methods (oleophilic materials).
- Emergency action in order to contain contaminated plumes.
- Emergency devices for accidental spillage or leakage of hazardous residues.
- On site remediation equipment through high vacuum and or electric/pneumatic pump systems.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTATION
- Hydrogeological studies.
- Environemtnal impact studies.
- Environmental liability studies – Due Diligence.
- Developing working procedures for singular actions involving the holding or transfer of hazardous waste.
EMERGENCY INTERVENTION SERVICES CONCERNING ACCIDENTS
We offer an integral service when managing accidents involving hazardous products, in which there exists a risk to people’s health or the environment. The objective of this service is to minimise damage. With accidents involving the spillage of hazardous liquids, the harm to the environment or the health risk to people progressively increases over the first few days, and throughout the following weeks and months. Due to this, it is essential to avert any possible harm immediately and to take adequate remediation measures as soon as possible so that we can reduce the economic cost.
CERTIFICATIONS AND AGREEMENTS
OUR TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT WILL RESEARCH ALL AVAILABLE OPTIONS IN ORDER TO COVER YOUR NEEDS