Feature Site: The Avenue
EURODEMO Statement
John Henstock, David Edwards, Dietmar Müller and Yvonne Spira
- aerial view (1999)
The EURODEMO consortium is very pleased to endorse the Avenue Coking Works, UK, as the first EURODEMO "Feature Project" in the field of soil and groundwater remediation.
The approach adopted for the Avenue strongly reflects EURODEMO's core objectives and priorities:
- public engagement and knowledge sharing with local residents;
- well-balanced and inclusive decision-making through early stakeholder engagement;
- technical collaboration with multi-national partners in Europe through an international funding package;
- a considered remediation strategy encompassing substantial options review and trialling of innovative remediation technologies; and
- delivering best practice in partnering and adopting a financial incentivisation mechanism that encourages innovation without compromising predictability of outcome, cost and timescale for the project.
Public engagement and sharing of information as exercised on The Avenue by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the project owner, is considered exceptional and regarded as good practice by EURODEMO. Here, good communication has improved public perception, ensuring local community support and confidence in good use of public funds for returning a previously derelict site to beneficial use.
Both the funding package and the project delivery team for Avenue are strongly European. The project team consists of emda, being supported by Jacobs (US, UK), Turner and Townsend (UK) and the Environment Partnership (UK). The remediation design has been awarded to VSD Avenue, a consortium comprising DEC (BE, NL), Sita Remediation (NL) and Volker Stevin (UK). The participation of European partners has allowed emda the pick of particular specialists and skill sets from a European pool. Project funding comes from the National Coalfields Programme managed by national regeneration agency English Partnerships, the UK Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) who inherited the "Polluter Pays" liabilities for the site and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
A considerable number of technology options were appraised for The Avenue, with numerous field trials and pilot tests undertaken. All results were published, demonstrating considerable interest and investment in innovative solutions. The trials highlighted that innovative techniques are not always standard or transferable applications, emphasising the need to increase European data exchange and cooperation. EURODEMO is confident that the experiences at Avenue will improve knowledge of applicability ranges and anticipated technology performance for other projects in the future.
The Avenue Project
Mike Fenton (emda, UK), Anke o'Donnell (Jacobs, UK), Selena Pearce (English Partnerships, UK), Brian Sims (Jacobs, UK).
The Avenue site, formerly the Avenue Coking Works, near Chesterfield is considered to be one of the worst single point sources of pollution of controlled waters in the UK. The £104.5M remediation of the site is funded by the national regeneration agency English Partnerships (EP) through the National Coalfields Programme and is delivered by East Midlands Development Agency (emda). Jacobs has been commissioned by emda as lead consultants for the redevelopment of the site, supported by Turner & Townsend and The Environment Partnership (TEP). VSD Avenue, a joint venture of Volker Stevin Ltd, Sita Remediation and DEC, was appointed in 2006 for the detailed design of the remediation technologies.
- aerial view (north)
The Avenue Coking and Chemical works, one of the largest of its kind in Europe, operated between 1956 and 1992 as a fully integrated plant producing 1,400 tons of smokeless fuel and 765.000m3 of gas from the carbonisation of 2,175 tons of coal per day. By-products produced by the plant included sulphuric acid, ammonium sulphate, benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene and other acids and organic compounds. Extensive contamination is present on the site within a former waste tip and two waste lagoons, site soils, ground and surface waters. The contaminants generally comprise of organics, including coal tars, phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), lime sludges, cyanide, ammoniacal substances and heavy metals. In 1992 the works closed, lying disused until the site entered the National Coalfields Programme in 1996. Reclamation proposals based on on-site encapsulation were explored with a private sector partner but these did not meet the overall objectives of remediation and return to beneficial use. In 1999 ownership of the site transferred to emda, which commenced the enormous task of characterisation, dismantling and cleaning the site.
- bioremediation trial
Since then, the Avenue Project Team has been working in close partnership with the Environment Agency and Local Authorities to find acceptable and sustainable solutions to the highly complex task of regenerating the site. Jacobs undertook a detailed site investigation and characterisation of the site and completed innovative, site specific risk assessments in agreement with the Regulators. This enabled the reduction of the likely volume of material requiring treatment from approximately 2.7Mio m3 to approximately 600,000m3.
The development of the remediation strategy for the site was further aided by the results of more than 25 feasibility studies and remediation trials on site-derived materials. The trials were designed to investigate the potential of a number of remediation technologies to treat the heavily contaminated materials from the Avenue and generate products suitable for re-use at the site. Investigation of potentially suitable techniques ranged from feasibility studies based on laboratory testing and bench scale trials to full scale technology trials. On-site trials were undertaken for different thermal desorption, soil washing, bioremediation, soil stabilisation and dewatering technologies. An additional thermal desorption trial used a full scale soil treatment facility in The Netherlands for the treatment of granular soils and lagoon sediments. It is this range of information available and emda's approach to best practice and knowledge sharing that makes The Avenue a good feature project for Eurodemo.
The Remediation Trials have significantly increased knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of the contaminated materials at the site and have given an indication of suitability of different treatment technologies. The results of the trials have aided the identification of a sustainable Remediation Strategy for the site aiming at maximising the amount of material that can be treated and re-used on site and minimising the need for off-site disposal in landfills.
From the outset, emda has taken every opportunity to engage with the public and have been actively promoting openness and communication with all stakeholders. For example, the Avenue has its own website 
The Avenue Project and is inviting open communication in regular Community Liaison, Regulator Liaison and Planning Liaison meetings.
Emda is committed to sharing the experiences and data gained at The Avenue for the benefit of other remediation projects. Eurodemo is providing a valuable opportunity for this through publication of trial details in the freely available database and through considering The Avenue as a feature project. Similarly, emda and the Project Team hope to be able to benefit from the experience other organisations have made with remediation of similar projects shared within Eurodemo.