Bay Waste keeps Gas Works remediation on schedule
July 2008 - Bay Waste Services moved into action swiftly in late July to remove contaminated rain water from a remediation site.
An Auckland based company was doing site remediation work on contaminated soil at the old Gas Works site in Gisborne, when unexpected heavy rain threatened the project's schedule and success.
Carl Worsnop, Bay Waste Branch Manager explains, "They were in the middle of excavating one of the old tar pits when we were hit with two days of heavy rain. This caused the excavations to start filling with rain water."
The company enlisted the services of Bay Waste to remove the contaminated rain water. The challenge, says Worsnop, was to remove it the same night the rain stopped so that the remediation company could continue removing the contaminated soil.
The water was contaminated with Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH's), heavy metals and low levels of cyanide. A total of 17,500 litres of contaminated rain water was removed from the excavations within 24 hours.
From there, the rain water was transported to Chemwaste in Auckland for treatment before being safely disposed of.
"The customer was very happy with our quick service and we managed to solve a very big problem for them safely, and on short notice," said Worsnop.