Soil Contaminant Testing - Contaminated Soil Disposal - Contaminated Site Clean Up
Soil Contaminant Testing Can Save Thousands of Dollars in Contaminated Soil Disposal and/or Contaminated Site Clean Up Costs.
Contaminated soil is soil that contains oil, lead, arsenic or any other hazardous materials as a result of a release into the environment. Contaminated soil testing, contaminated soil disposal or treatment, and contaminated site clean up, are essential elements in the process used to identify, mitigate, control and resolve contaminated soil issues.
Increases by EPA Victoria of the landfill levies imposed on the disposal of Prescribed Waste in recent years have resulted in escalating costs for the disposal of contaminated soils. Essentially, the cost for disposal of high and very high level contaminated soil is now a critical factor - even on small volumes. In addition, the EPA has published new technical soil sampling guidelines for the off-site management and acceptance to landfill.
Atma Environmental knows the technical jargon and will ensure that you have sufficient and appropriate testing and data so your waste is classified to the lowest justifiable disposal category and that none of your trucks are turned back because of insufficient information required by the disposal facility.
The rigorous soil testing protocols central to our environmental consulting services have proven time and time again to be invaluable in managing our clients' commercial interests. That’s because the costs of an ill-conceived sampling program, resulting in a disposal classification higher than otherwise required, is usually much more expensive than the extra investigation work required to better assess a body of soil for disposal.
For this reason, selecting a competent environmental consulting firm is critical to minimisie the ultimate costs of off site contaminated soil disposal.
A Practical Example of the Value of Contaminated Soil Testing
A practical example of the value of soil testing is when dealing with solid or ‘in-situ’ material, (i.e. material that has not yet been excavated and stockpiled). It is important to test for soil contamination well in advance of excavation, to determine whether part or all of the material is contaminated before it is stockpiled for reuse or disposal.
Thorough investigation to classify the soil can significantly reduce contaminated site clean up costs, contaminated soil disposal or general environmental compliance liabilities, while a failure to do so can result in large, and in many cases, avoidable site remediation and down time expenses!
If soil testing reveals concentrated areas of contamination, this does not necessarily mean a property is no longer viable. If concentrated areas of contaminated soil can be identified and separated from clean areas, this can result in thousands of dollars of savings in contaminated soil treatment or removal costs. Furthermore, thorough investigation to classify contaminated soil, combined with the use of proper soil sampling programs, can be used to determine average contaminated soil concentrations, which may be less than suggested by a single spot sample. Again, this can result in significant contaminated site clean up savings.
Example of a $132,000 Cost Saving:
100m3 of soil needs to be disposed. The minimum required four soil samples are taken, one indicating the soil is Category B, the other three indicating Category C Prescribed Waste. Based on the highest result the soil must be classed as Category B and the cost to dispose is 100 m3 x $1500/ m3 = $150,000
Atma Environmental investigates the same site, recognises the potential for contamination, realises the potential cost impact to its client, and recommends the collection of an additional 6 samples. The results of the 10 samples are statistically tested and show the soil may be classified down to Category C. The cost to dispose is now 100 m3 x $180/m3 = $18,000.
