The reclamation of disused gasworks sites: new solutions to an old problem

Abstract

The sites of former gasworks can be chemically contaminated by process or waste residuals. These may prove hazardous to the environment before, during or after redevelopment. In the UK there appears to be no formal procedure for evaluating the choice of remedial option for such sites. Informally however, a number of factors are considered relevant. Of these factors a detailed site characterisation is considered fundamental to the choice of remedial option, however, other considerations including timescale, institutional constraints and economic feasibility may be equally important. Current UK practice with respect to the remediation of gasworks appears to be based principally on the removal or isolation of the contaminants. New technologies which have been developed predominantly in other countries favour the destruction of contamination and equal emphasis is placed on both soil and groundwater remediation.