Air-sparging and soil-flushing at Ilex site

A SPECIALIST contractor will likely inject compressed air into boreholes and extract groundwater using pumps as part of the multi-million pound decontamination of the Ilex Fort George site.

Last week Social Development Minister Alex Attwood announced the MoD would contribute £3.2m towards the costs, a move welcomed by Ilex Chief Execitive Aideen McGinley.

Investigations carried out on Fort George previously found significant sub-surface contamination comprising hydrocarbons and heavy metals.

Ecological contamination in the form of Invasive Plant Species, including Japanese knotweed, is also present over large areas of the site.

Ilex have revealed that the decontamination processes are likely to include air-sparging which is used for the remediation of sites contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbon and entails injection of compressed air into the ground via boreholes

Pump & Treat/Soil Flushing which involves the extraction of contaminated groundwater using pumps or the siphoning effect of a vacuum stream applied below the water table, will also be employed.

Remediation will be undertaken by a specialist contractor who will be publically procured via OJEU (European Journal).

The exact method(s) of decontamination will be determined by the appointed contractor and will be undertaken to the required standards. The actual cost of remediation will depend on the method(s) chosen by the selected contractor.