The Asbestos in Soil Joint Industry Working Group is responsible for developing the Asbestos in Soil, Made Ground and Construction and Demolition Materials Code of Practice and they are now looking for leading individuals from the asbestos, contaminated land and waste/resource efficiency sectors who have specific practical experience and demonstrated expertise in a variety of key areas relating to the management of asbestos in soil who wish to be involved in helping to write the Code of Practice. The chosen authors will have some of their time paid for from the funds that have been raised from industry but it is recognised that there will be a requirement for some in-kind contributions as well. The aim is for small groups of authors to work collaboratively on individual chapters and/or sections to ensure that there is cross fertilisation of ideas and no personal bias.  Download the expression of interest form here>>>

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CL:AIRE is delighted to announce that it has recently been awarded the Defra research project SP1010: Development of Category 4 Screening Levels for Assessment of Land Affected by Contamination.  CL:AIRE will be working with Mike Quint of Environmental Health Sciences Ltd, Simon Firth of Firth Consultants Ltd, Camilla Pease of ENVIRON, Sarah Bull of AEA Technology Ltd, Ed Stutt of wca environment, Andy Hart, Marc Kennedy and Roy Macarthur of fera and Steve Moreby to deliver this project.

The aim of this research project is to provide technical guidance to support Defra’s recently revised Statutory Guidance (SG) for Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Part 2A was originally introduced to ensure that the risks from land contamination to human health, property and the environment are managed appropriately, with the revised SG being designed to address concerns regarding its real-world application.

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CL:AIRE is pleased to report that the Remediation Technologies eLearning Suite 2012, has enjoyed a successful first three months since being released to the industry. The learning suite is fully interactive and provides training on key aspects of undertaking options appraisals and selecting, designing, implementing and verifying different remediation technologies.  The suite has been developed in association with the Environment Agency and leading industry experts and is aimed at foundation and intermediate level.

The 10 courses comprise the following subjects:
Options Appraisal, Monitored Natural Attenuation, Permeable Reactive Barriers, Air Sparging/Soil Vapour Extraction, Ex-situ Bioremediation, Chemical Oxidation, Stabilisation/Solidifcation, In-situ Bioremediation, Soil Washing, In-situ and Ex-situ Thermal Desorption.

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The AGS have recently published interim guidance on Asbestos for the protection of Site Investigation and Geotechnical Laboratory Personnel.  
To download the document click here>>.

In this month’s Feature Article, Mark Edwards of Lancaster City Council shares their experience of monitoring for radon.

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The ADVOCATE Project (Advancing Sustainable In Situ Remediation for Contaminated Land and Groundwater) is now approaching its halfway point. The research in this Marie Curie Initial Training Network is being carried out by a cohort of young researchers from all around the world, linked together via projects in work packages which examine different themes, such as socio-economic aspects, process
understanding, concept appraisal and technology development.

You can find out more about the projects undertaken by the Research Fellows within the first ADVOCATE newsletter, which can be downloaded here or by visiting the ADVOCATE website at www.theadvocateproject.eu.

ROBUST is a 5-year EPSRC project investigating the Regeneration of Brownfield Land Using Sustainable Technologies and involves a group of five researchers at Durham University. The project is half way through its fourth year now, results are starting to accumulate and the project team are looking ahead to publication and dissemination of their findings.

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Social and economic knowledge for sustainable soil management to be opened mid September 2012.  

The SNOWMAN network is a transnational group of research funding organizations and administrations in the field of soil and groundwater in Europe. The SNOWMAN network wants to develop and share knowledge for the sustainable use of soil and groundwater. For the development of knowledge they have a research programme that is executed by organising calls for projects. Already three calls have been launched successfully. More information on the history and accomplishments of the SNOWMAN group and the finalised and ongoing projects can be found on the website. For further information, click here>>.

The SNOWMAN network now pre-announces its upcoming 4th call.

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Ian Heasman (of Taylor Wimpey) has been elected as the new Chairman of the Land Forum.  Ian, the Soil and Groundwater Technology Association (SAGTA) representative, follows from the one year tenure of ERM’s Phil Crowcroft representing Specialist in Land Condition (SiLC). Seamus Lefroy-Brooks, representing the Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (AGS), has been elected Deputy Chair.

In its first year the Land Forum focussed on significant policy and regulatory changes including the National Planning Policy Framework, the revised Part2A Statutory Guidance and the proposed scrapping of Land Remediation Relief.

In relation to plans for the next year the incoming chair has said ‘The unique multi-stakeholder constituency of the Land Forum provides a great opportunity to explore the meaning and better define ‘sustainable land use’. The focus of year 2 of the Land Forum is to look at this strategically in the context of land use change.’

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CL:AIRE is delighted to launch its first Contaminated Land 'State of the Market Report' to its 2011-2012 Members, which was compiled thanks to the contributions of CL:AIRE Technical Members.  The report includes the sector’s most far reaching survey including capturing the qualifications and competences of over 1,000 contaminated land professionals, and the reporting of up to 7,292 corrective action remediation projects.  The overall purpose of the State of the Market Report is to provide CL:AIRE Members with market intelligence, statistics and context to strengthen their business and to provide them with visibility and promotion as supportive voices of CL:AIRE’s principles. The unabridged CL:AIRE State of the Market Report 2012 including CL:AIRE Technical Members’ company profiles will be promoted to CL:AIRE’s Corporate Members and will be disseminated to UK Governmental Departments and to international equivalent organisations to show UK capability. 

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