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Emergency Response – Filling Station

We were recently contacted following a spillage of several hundred litres of diesel by a customer at a filling station in Northamptonshire. The diesel had entered the site’s drainage system, which ultimately discharged into a nearby area of wetlands.

We were on-site and our spill-response trailer within two hours of receiving the first call. We liaised with site staff, the Fire Brigade, tanker service contractors and the Environment Agency and co-ordinated thesubsequent clean-up, preventing any of the fuel reaching the wetland.

We subsequently collected soil and groundwater samples which were analysed by our in-house UKAS and MCerts accreditted laboratory, with results reported back to our client within 24 hours.

For more information about the emergency response services we offer, please contact James Edley – Tel: 01296 739412

 

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Big Old Tanks

USTsHave you ever wondered what is below your feet when you’re filling up at a petrol station? Big old tanks, that’s what! We’ve investigated the ground at more filling stations in the UK than anyone else and so, not surprisingly, we have a have a pretty detailed understanding of how they are put together. This sort of experience is invaluable when
it comes to assessing potential environmental risk – we know how and where problems
can occur…

Obviously owning our own specialist drilling systems, UKAS and MCerts accedited
laboratory and remediation equipment also has benefits, both in terms of cost and speed of turnaround.

For pragmatic advice and cost effective assessment strategies for the assessment
of filling station sites please contact James Skinner on 07770 611554.

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When You Need to Know Fast

Groundwater ProbingOur Geoprobe Drilling Systems offer something a little special when it comes to rapidly investigating a site. And when coupled with the fast turnaround from our UKAS and MCerts laboratory, our clients benefit from the best of all worlds.

We were asked to investigate a large industrial site that had a history of fuel contamination issues. The question was: how far had the contamination spread and was it migrating under the neighbouring properties. Our solution was to carry out a groundwater probing survey, comprising driving a re-useable probe into the ground to the underlying groundwater and then taking a sample of the groundwater for laboratory analysis.

We completed 54 probes in two days, accurately delineating the hydrocarbon plume. Forensic analysis of the samples by our laboratory then confirmed that there were three separate sources of the hydrocarbons, two of which were ongoing leaks, and not just the one known historic source.

We now know what the problems are, how far the contamination has spread and how to clean it up. Isn’t that better than endless phases of investigation last months and costing £££s.

Project value: £10-£15k

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Groundwater Treatment at Major Airport

Airport Remediation
Groundwater Treatment in Place

We have recently been appointed to carry out long-term treatment to remove a range of contaminants, including Jet-A1, glycol and iron, from dewatering effluent at a major airport in southern England. Key to our success in winning the work was:

a) Our ability to deliver a modular treatment system that could be dismantled, moved and reassembled quickly and easily to suit construction activities;

b) Our in-house laboratory’s fast analysis turnaround ensuring early confirmation that discharge consent limits are not being exceeded.

For more information please contact James Skinner.

Contract Duration: 12-18 months      Contract value: £100-£250k

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When Things Get Tricky

Removing USTs with truss in foreground

Subadra have recently completed what has been, perhaps, our trickiest ever underground tank removal. The tanks at the former filling station were located close to the site boundary. Removing them might destabilise a Victorian house on the adjacent property. To prevent this a contiguous bored pile wall was installed together with a supporting steel truss. Our job was to safely ease the tanks out from under the truss without compromising its structural integrity, before cutting them up and disposing of them as scrap metal. All this on a crowded site with construction of the new structures well underway.

Contract Value £20-£50k

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Subadra Awarded Multi-Site Portfolio

We have been awarded the contract to carry out pre-redevelopment site investigations at a portfolio of approximately 30 filling stations across the UK for a major fuel retailer. The contract requires both environmental and geotechnical assessment of each site. Key to our successful bid was the fact that we will be carrying out all the work using our own drilling rigs and our own UKAS/MCerts laboratory, allowing us to be confident of meeting the very demanding project deadlines. This contract confirms our position as the UK’s #1 environmental consultancy in the retail fuel sector.

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Black Gold?

Sadly not in this case. But what do you do if you’re digging a hole and it fills with a horrible mixture of black fuel and water? Call Subadra of course! We are able to guide you with all aspects of contaminated ground from waste disposal or how to minimise the impact on your development programme to how to discharge your planning conditions.
The site  in the photo is a filling station that is currently undergoing a full site redevelopment. When the contractor opened up the forecourt to remove the below ground fuel tanks the excavation filled with a heady mix of petrol and diesel that had accumulated over the years around the off-set fill points.
We were on-site within 2hours of being contacted. We collected water and soil samples from the excavation that were run through our in-house hydrocarbon laboratory. The results were issued within 48hours allowing the contractor to efficiently deal with the soil disposal and avoid costly delays to the works programme.

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Subadra Complete New Fuel Storage Facility For Millenium Seedbank

This month saw us complete construction of a new fuel storage facility for Royal Botanic Gardens’ Millenium Seed Bank. A key aspect of the project was to ensure that the Seed bank was continuously supplied with fuel (used for heating greenhouses) as any protracted outage would have had dire consequences for the seeds. In the event the switchover was completed without a hitch.

Subadra were responsible for all the civils works (constructing the tank base and retaining walls, installing a dedicated drainage and spill capture system, electrical installation etc. Our partner, Vectec, were responsible for supplying and installing the tanks and associated pipework.

Contract Value: £50-100k