Methodology for fast and reliable Investigation and Characterization of Contaminated Sites

Project Information

MICCS

Grant agreement ID: 222204

Closed project

Start date 1 November 2008

End date 30 April 2011

Funded under

• Specific Programme "Capacities": Research for the benefit of SMEs

Total cost € 1 801 336,25

EU contribution € 1 280 207,00

Coordinated by

DGE GROUP A/S
Denmark

Final ReportSummary - MICCS (Methodology for fast and reliable Investigation and Characterization of Contaminated Sites)

The European Union (EU) has as high priority area to protect the citizen's health and the environment. Due to the associated detrimental effects due to contamination of soil and groundwater there is a need for fast and reliable investigations of the more than 1.2 million contaminated sites in Europe.

To-day the most common method for investigating contaminated sites and for characterisation of the subsoil is to drill vertical holes through the soil stratum and analysing soil samples. This method is very time consuming, relative expensive and non-dynamic, meaning that further data demands new boreholes.

The specific goal of the MICCS project has been addressed to reduce time and costs for analysis by the development of a much more advanced in-situ investigation method for fast and cheap identification and characterisation of contaminated sites.

This has been achieved by integrating a novel probe technology with dedicated selective and very sensitive volatile organic components sensors and combining this with improved ground-penetrating radar methods (GPR). The integration of advanced geophysical data analysis functions into the non-invasive GPR modules consolidates the competitive edge of the MICCS technology.

The MICCS probe system is designed for use in a fast sonic drilling method. The sonic drilling method produces high G-values which have necessitated innovative high tech designs for the protection of components in the sensor probe.

Together with the GPR the sensor measurements provide improved, more precise and faster on-line data for polluted sites than the common methodology.

Project context and objectives:

There is an increasing understanding that our natural resources should be kept unspoiled, which makes polluted soil and groundwater not acceptable. Therefore, a lot of resources are used for investigating contaminated sites, limiting the damage from pollution and cleaning polluted soil and groundwater.

The site investigations are very costly and time consuming. They are normally based on traditional methods where vertical drillings through the soil matrix are used for soil and groundwater sampling and testing for pollution and characterising the geology.

A recent development is the use of probes driven down into the soil. The probes can be used for taking out soil samples or direct physical / geotechnical investigation or taking out samples of porous air through membranes placed on the probe. The sampling method is faster than drilling and the air sampling can be combined with analytical equipment on the surface, hereby doing online measurements for volatile compounds.

Generally, the non-drilling sampling techniques are faster than traditional methods, but the analyses of contaminants are still very time consuming and costly, because all soil and water samples have to be moved from the soil matrix to the laboratory.

For the characterisation of a contaminated site, it is necessary to get as many sampling points as possible to improve the statistical background. Therefore, faster methods are needed to get a better basis for decisions during site investigation and afterwards.

Although the conventional methods with sampling and analysis are well tested, the number of sampling points covering the total area are limited, and the statistic foundations for describing the extent of pollution is restricted. At the same time, the soil and water analyses have to be performed on samples taken out during the drilling process. Therefore, the handling of the samples and the analyses are costly and the numbers of possible parameters are limited by the handling. The drilling and handling processes, like displacement of the soil matrix and aeration of the soil and water cause changes in the naturally imbedded soil and groundwater, which can cause change in the results of analyses.

The cost of analysis for identifying pollution for the public sector in Denmark alone is estimated to almost EUR 100 million yearly. The cost in the private sector is even higher.

In other scientific and technical fields there are increasing developments of a new generation of micro sensors, which are able to analyse chemical compound of all kinds - including soil contaminants. These achievements have been used in the development of the MICCS system.

The MICCS concept

The aim of the MICCS project has been to develop a new soil investigation method and thereby:

- improve the basis for risk assessment and decisions on remediation;
- reduce time and cost for soil investigation

The specific goal of the project has been to develop a more advanced in-situ investigation method for identifying and characterising pollution. This has been achieved by integrating a solid probe technology with sophisticated sensor technology and combining this with improved GPR.

The expected outcome is to:

- reduce risks to environment and operators during drilling and characterisation / remediation activities;
- reduce costs of characterisation;
- improve overall results of characterization through calibrated three-dimensional (3D) imaging and assessment of subsurface conditions (geometry and physical properties of subsurface materials).

Together, the sensor measurements provide improved and more precise data input through a chemometric analysis as basis for better decision making.

Furthermore, the investigation method will be easier and quicker to use, and hence also less costly than current SOA investigation methods.

The novel MICCS method makes it possible to relocate resources from investigation to actual remediation and diminish the likelihood for making wrong decisions on whether or not to take remediation action.

The scientific work in MICCS has produced new fundamental knowledge to help address the overcoming of technical barriers related to the following objectives:

- increase the performance of GPR relative to contaminated sites;
- incorporate sensors to sonic drill probe heads;
- protecting sensors during sonic drilling;
- measure, transmit and analyse data in real time;
- 'intelligent' data treatment for improving the basis for decisions of contaminated site handling.

Project results:

Scientific results

A number of non-invasive 3D geophysical data acquisition protocols and tools has been developed for investigating polluted sites.

Technical results

Characterisation of potential mechanical stress in sonic drilling conditions
The stress on a probe in drilling conditions by using sonic drilling has been characterised using an accelerometer attached to a special developed holder in a probe.

Damping methods
Systems for damping vibrations from sonic drilling into a probe have been designed.

Development of sensor system
A sensor system based on dedicated VOC sensors and a VOC transport system as well as a number of other sensors has been developed for identification of the type of VOC and measurement of concentration of VOCs.

Test equipment for validating performance
Test equipment for testing the sensor system in the laboratory has been designed, built and tested using a number of analytes with pollutants of interest in known concentrations.

Design of probe system
Sensor system, electronics and a communication system for the MICCS probe has been designed for sonic drilling conditions with high G forces. The design has required innovative high tech designs for the protection of components in the sensor probe.

Software
Software has been developed for controlling the MICCS probe, logging results in a file, visualising the online sensor results on screen and calculating concentrations of pollutants.

Assembly and test
Components for the MICCS probe have been manufactured and the probe has been tested in the laboratory.

On-site demonstration and performance test
The probe has been tested on selected polluted sites. The probes online sensors measured and identified VOCs for both oil products and chlorinated solvents in general agreement with results from traditional methods.

Potential impact:

Socio-economical impact

Impacts from contaminated soil:

Contaminated soil is mainly a result of inappropriate legislative management in the past, but nowadays there are still harmful substances leaking to the environment. The 'polluter pays' principle is implemented in most European countries, but due to the legislative problems in the past and ongoing activities at least 25 % of the total remediation expenses come from public authorities.

The goal for the MICCS project is to develop a new investigation technique, which can reduce the time for investigation by 30 % and thus influence the cost for site investigation by 20 %. With this 20 % cost reduction of the yearly EUR 2.2 billion for investigation the new MICCS-product could potentially release EUR 440 million, which will allow for more investigation and remediation to be carried out. With our estimated market penetration this will result in saved costs in the region of EUR 60 million five years post-project.

Furthermore, surveys backed by the European Commission (EC) have estimated that society's loss per year due to soil contamination is EUR 17.3 billion. With the increased speed of the MICCS penetration rate, it will become possible to accomplish 30 % more site investigations and hence potentially implement the remediation 30 % earlier, which could result in a 30 % yearly drop of society loss from site pollution, if this was converted directly. This would result in a potential drop of over EUR 5 billion. For the MICCS project, it would hence be possible, if the conversion rate was 1:1 between the increased speed for investigation and remediation, to get a total saving in society loss from soil contamination of more than EUR 0.25 billion five years post-project.

Policy initiatives:

In recent years, there has been more political focus on the contamination problem, and it has become a political goal to eliminate or minimise the threat from contaminated soil hazards. This has resulted in several political treaties in the European Community as a means of control to protect the environment, water supply and public health. The most direct threat and risk for soil contamination comes from waste management, here several legislative elements have been implemented such as Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, Landfill Directive and Waste Framework Directive. For more general environmental protection, the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive is implemented to ensure that a risk assessment needs to be carried out before any potentially environmental harmful industrial, agricultural and other type of projects are permitted. The Habitat Directive is of particular relevance since it defines a number of terrestrial habitats that depend on specific soil characteristics and in this way indicates the status of different nature types and thereby the soil condition. Other treaties that have been ratified by the member states are Nitrates Directive and Water Framework Directive, which aim is to protect the ground and surface water from contamination.

Now the Member States faces the implementation of the Soil Framework Directive in the EU Member States that among others entails the implementation of monitoring and surveying strategies for all countries potential contaminated sites and to make an inventory over the European soil condition.

In this light, the MICCS system should be seen as a new instrument that can make the investigation process more efficient and in that way help the individual Member States full fill their obligations in relation to these directives.

Public health:

Sites that are contaminated possess a great threat to the public health. Harmful substances in the soil can be released to the ground- or surface water, but can also be harmful by direct contact by humans or through uptake by plants. Soil contamination due to diffuse pollution is in Europe mainly caused by acidification. Local contamination or site contamination is often due to high density urbanisation and industrialisation or military installations. In extreme cases, soil contamination can be very serious and may lead to a variety of complications, from sickness, to cancer and mutations, health effects of pollutants may be acute or chronic (Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia 2007). Benzene, chromium, pesticides and other substances are well known carcinogen and causes higher risks on cancer. Pollution with lead can cause brain and nerve damage especially to children, and it’s the reason that leaded gasoline was banned. Lead has a long decay time and are still a problem due do past disposal or leaking from underground storage tanks. Other common contamination substances can typically cause liver, kidney changes or headache, eye irritation, nausea and skin rash.

According to Cornell researchers about 40 % of deaths worldwide are caused by water, air and soil pollution, with soil pollution mainly through polluted groundwater causing almost 0.5 million life yearly (Cornell University 2007). This corresponds to more than 50 000 lives lost yearly in the EU with 8 % of the global population. The MICCS project can potentially with a penetration rate at 5 % after five year in the save a total of 500 lives five year post-project.

Environment:

Contaminated soil has a severe impact on nature habitats, plants, birds and wildlife protected by the Habitat Directive and the Wild Birds Act, including some of the most threatened species in Europe. Chemical solutions diffusing into rivers and lakes are greatly disturbing the natural ecosystems and endangers wildlife in various ways. Low fertility, genetic deformity, increase in mortality rate, succession due to change in the ecosystem, resulting in loss of habitats and diversity of species, and pollution to these areas, are typical consequences of contaminated soil.

Whereas pollution of surface water like lakes and rivers will show instant effects, e.g. in the form of fish death and lack of oxygen in water, the effect from contaminated soil emerges more slowly. This is due to the soil's buffering capacity, resilience and capability to filter and absorb contaminants, which means that the damage to environment is not perceived until it is far advanced. When the soil capacity level is over the threshold, substances will leak to ground or surface water typically in the form of acidification (EEA 2000).

The MICCS project will help to improve the environment and help protect the 11.000 species of animals and plants that face a high risk of extinction in the near future (ECBCH 2004), through a speedier implementation of remediation techniques.

Loss in property value:

A Danish EPA study on property loss when selling polluted grounds of houses has showed that the value of Danish real estate decreases by 5 - 11 % when under suspicion for contamination in the ground. When pollution is known; however, the loss in property value is only 2 %. Applying these figures, lost property value for houses in Denmark due to suspicions of pollution add up to EUR 17 million. Extrapolated into EU figures, this gives a yearly property value loss of EUR 1.5 billion, of which the MICCS project can potentially save EUR 40 million five years post project.

To sum up societal aspects of the project, by enhancing the decision making foundation from reliable measurement results, and by reducing the time and cost spent on site investigation, this project will contribute to lowering the negative societal impacts from the above threats. At European level, this yields the following results for MICCS five years post-project:

- total savings for Europe of more than EUR 0.5 billion in general from soil site contamination;
- reducing the time and cost for investigation and remediation of contaminated soil of more than EUR 60 million;
- help for EU Member States aiming to fulfil EU legislation on soil site pollution;
- a total of 1200 lives saved from exposure to contaminated sites;
- improvement of our general environment, habitats, plants, birds and wildlife;
- savings of EUR 40 million for property loss when selling polluted grounds of houses.

European approach needed

Pollution and connected problems know no boundaries. This same opinion has the European Commission and has made different directives to stem the effects of soil degradation. For contaminated soil, the risk is of harmful substances leaking into flood streams and thereby spreading the pollution to other regions. Soil contamination is a global, regional and national problem. Soil provides the basis for 90 % of all human food fibres, livestock feed and fuel. The products coming from soil are traded between regions, and there is in that way need for a sustainable soil condition.

The problem of soil degradation is of a transnational nature, and it has been politically decided in the EU to protect the soil from degradation. Moreover, the investigation method that MICCS will research and develop consists of different technology and disciplinary inputs needing to be compiled and put intelligently together to overcome real technical barriers associated with the project. In a more intelligent way than current state of the art, this calls for a broad variety of the most knowledgeable and skilful RTD providers to assist the SMEs in achieving their objectives for RTD and exploitation.

Project website: http://miccs.eu