Events & Courses

From petrol and diesel to chlorinated solvents and coal tar, the UK has a legacy of non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) contamination beneath the ground. In this, the Geological Society's “Year of Carbon”, the Contaminated Land Group held a one-day conference at the Priory Rooms, Birmingham, looking at characterising and managing NAPL.

Published in 2003, the Environment Agency Illustrated handbook of DNAPL transport and fate in the subsurface, warned readers that the science of assessment and remediation was new and evolving. With publication of CL:AIRE’s LNAPL Companion in 2014 and guidance on Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Groundwater in 2017 questions are raised: 

• Where does this leave the assessment of accidental or legacy releases? 
• What advances have we made and what is the current regulatory position?

Meeting resources

Slides

• Introduction to the conference
• A review of the recent international LNAPL literature (Dr Michael O Rivett, GroundH2O Plus Ltd and University of Strathclyde)
• Recent advances in the assessment of DNAPL sites (Gary Wealthall, Geosyntec)
• NAPL: does it matter? What can we learn from the last 15 years – A review of UK case studies (Alan Thomas, Kevin Leahy, James Baldock and Lucy Wedge, ERM)
• NAPL – Separating Physics from Policy: A Tale of Two Countries (Michael Chendorain, ARUP)
• The regulatory position in Scotland (Alan Yendell, Scottish Environment Protection Agency)
• World War II legacy and the challenges of managing LNAPL and DNAPL contamination of ground and surface waters (Rachel Thomas, Pembrokeshire County Council)
• An update on the SoBRA NAPL subgroup (David Holmes, Ecologia)
• Successful full dechlorination of DNAPL comprising chlorinated ethenes and ethanes under a commercially active site (Jack Shore, Regenesis)
• RemSoc Framework: A practitioner's guide to remediation (Quentin Hulm, RemSoc)
• Site Investigation, Risk Assessment and Remediation of DNAPL at a Site in Grangemouth (Chris Eccles, Nick Frost and Mike Harper, TerraConsult Ltd)

Poster competition winner

• Winner: Sunshine on the Tyne