Ortec-Soleo is a player in the redevelopment of the EDF power plant in lucciana, Corsica
Ortec Soléo has ensured the rehabilitation of a former EDF site in Lucciana in the north of Corsica (Haute-Corse). Through rigorous methodology and proven expertise, the decontamination of the site’s soil now means that it can fully look to the future.
Earthworks, sifting and off-site treatment of impacted soil: for twelve months, Ortec Soléo teams rehabilitated the soil of the former diesel power plant in Lucciana, located 20 kilometers south of Bastia. The site ceased thermal generation in March 2014 and will become home to a power conversion plant as part of the SACOI 3 project, aimed at boosting the island’s electricity supply. “Our initiative focused on compliance with the requirements of the prefectural decrees in terms of site rehabilitation and environmental monitoring, with the aim of enabling its redeployment,” explains EDF.
To do this, all the pollutant sources, hydrocarbons for the most part, needed to be treated. Such was Ortec Soléo’s mission, as commissioned by EDF, the owner of the site. The huge scale of the project – 16,000 m3 of material to be excavated to a depth of 10 meters – required extensive mobilization and meticulous methodology on the part of the Ortec Group’s Soil Decontamination and Rehabilitation subsidiary.
Decontamination method: excavation, sifting, evacuation and treatment
Pilot tests, carried out by Ortec Soléo, made it possible to identify the decontamination technique best suited to the realities of the plant (environment, neighborhood, control of nuisances, costs, deadlines, etc.), which is located near homes and other industrial sites. The solution finally chosen was excavation, sifting and off-site evacuation/treatment. The main advantage of this method: “The optimization of the volumes treated, thanks to rigorous earthwork plans, which identified between the impacted materials and the healthy materials and a precise phasing of the works. Measures were also taken to control the levels of volatile compounds in the air and protect all those involved,” says Ortec Soléo. Once the earthwork was done, the materials were managed on site for analysis. The aim was to encourage maximum reuse of healthy soil on site and thus avoid unnecessary evacuation journeys.
This strategy made it possible to reuse 75% of the materials, initially identified to be excavated in the preliminary studies, as backfill on site. As for the impacted soils, they were stored in watertight locations before being evacuated. Ninety percent (90%) of these evacuated soils were then sent to biocenters for recycling.
Evacuation of impacted soils to a biocenter for recycling
The issue of soil evacuation represented another challenge. As Corsica does not have suitable facilities for this type of treatment, the evacuation of some 6,500 metric tonnes of soil was carried out by boat to the mainland. The volumes were then transferred to a treatment facility close to the port of Marseilles, in order to limit the environmental impact due to the transportation of the skips. An evacuation flow adapted to the constraints of maritime transport (90 metric tonnes per day) was set up in order to solve the storage issues on the EDF site, without hampering the progress of work at the site.
The redevelopment project of the Lucciana site provided an opportunity for Ortec Soléo to deploy its expertise in terms of soil decontamination and rehabilitation. The teams demonstrated a keen ability to analyze the characteristics of the site in order to provide EDF with a solution that optimized costs and timing while minimizing environmental impacts. Once the work began, Ortec Soléo was able to develop a methodology in order to anticipate co-activity, the various phases and the specificities of the site.
The Lucciana site is now ready to write a new page in its history.
Figures
2014: Definitive shutdown of EDF’s thermal plant in Lucciana.
50,000 mg/kg: Maximum concentration of hydrocarbons recorded at the site.
10 meters: Maximum depth of pollutant impact.
12 months: Total duration of the rehabilitation project carried out by Ortec Soléo.
16,600 m3: Total volume of materials excavated.
75%: Percentage of materials that were reused in situ as backfill, after analysis.
90%: Percentage of evacuated soils that were sent to a biocenter for treatment and recycling.
6,500 metric tonnes: Volume of soil transported from Corsica to a treatment facility on the mainland.
