Posted on

Big Old Tanks

USTsHave you ever wondered what is below your feet when you’re filling up at a petrol station? Big old tanks, that’s what! We’ve investigated the ground at more filling stations in the UK than anyone else and so, not surprisingly, we have a have a pretty detailed understanding of how they are put together. This sort of experience is invaluable when
it comes to assessing potential environmental risk – we know how and where problems
can occur…

Obviously owning our own specialist drilling systems, UKAS and MCerts accedited
laboratory and remediation equipment also has benefits, both in terms of cost and speed of turnaround.

For pragmatic advice and cost effective assessment strategies for the assessment
of filling station sites please contact James Skinner on 07770 611554.

Posted on

When You Need to Know Fast

Groundwater ProbingOur Geoprobe Drilling Systems offer something a little special when it comes to rapidly investigating a site. And when coupled with the fast turnaround from our UKAS and MCerts laboratory, our clients benefit from the best of all worlds.

We were asked to investigate a large industrial site that had a history of fuel contamination issues. The question was: how far had the contamination spread and was it migrating under the neighbouring properties. Our solution was to carry out a groundwater probing survey, comprising driving a re-useable probe into the ground to the underlying groundwater and then taking a sample of the groundwater for laboratory analysis.

We completed 54 probes in two days, accurately delineating the hydrocarbon plume. Forensic analysis of the samples by our laboratory then confirmed that there were three separate sources of the hydrocarbons, two of which were ongoing leaks, and not just the one known historic source.

We now know what the problems are, how far the contamination has spread and how to clean it up. Isn’t that better than endless phases of investigation last months and costing £££s.

Project value: £10-£15k

Posted on

Free Water Supply?

Water Well Drilling
Water Well Drilling

We’ve recently completed construction  of a water well to supply a popular car wash facility in the Swindon area.

Working closely with the main contractor, our careful pre-planning enabled us to install a 40m deep water well in challenging geological conditions, requiring 25m of retrievable casing to be used, all without affecting the site’s redevelopment programme.

On-going site contamination issues dictated that the borehole construction had to be professionally approved and tested before use. But the results of the post-development pump testing confirmed the well would supply a clean water yield in excess of the client’s requirements.

The savings in water supply costs for our client equates to a significant increase in their future profits. What difference would a free supply of 20,000 litres of water a day make to your business?

Contact: Angus Gale Tel: 01296 739471

Posted on

Tight Access for Investigation

TerrierWe have recently completed an incident response investigation of a domestic heating oil installation located at the centre of a residential accommodation block complex in southern England. The site overlies chalk and is located just 100m from a public drinking water supply borehole.

Following complaints of possible oil contamination issues from the residents we took samples of the underlying soils and audited the fuel installation. With only footpaths leading to the tank installation we used our Terrier drilling system – which can fit through a standard doorway – to install boreholes either side of the oil tank and take soil samples for rapid analysis in our UKAS laboratory. Fortunately no significant soil contamination had occurred and our recommended improvements to the installation are now underway. The entire project, from initial enquiry instruction to report issue, was completed in under 4 days.

Project value ~£2k. Client value £££

Posted on

Groundwater Treatment at Major Airport

Airport Remediation
Groundwater Treatment in Place

We have recently been appointed to carry out long-term treatment to remove a range of contaminants, including Jet-A1, glycol and iron, from dewatering effluent at a major airport in southern England. Key to our success in winning the work was:

a) Our ability to deliver a modular treatment system that could be dismantled, moved and reassembled quickly and easily to suit construction activities;

b) Our in-house laboratory’s fast analysis turnaround ensuring early confirmation that discharge consent limits are not being exceeded.

For more information please contact James Skinner.

Contract Duration: 12-18 months      Contract value: £100-£250k

Posted on

Could this be summer?

Sunny Day on Site

Sometimes it really just isn’t that bad to be on site! Could this be the start of a long, hot summer? We hope so.

Posted on

When Things Get Tricky

Removing USTs with truss in foreground

Subadra have recently completed what has been, perhaps, our trickiest ever underground tank removal. The tanks at the former filling station were located close to the site boundary. Removing them might destabilise a Victorian house on the adjacent property. To prevent this a contiguous bored pile wall was installed together with a supporting steel truss. Our job was to safely ease the tanks out from under the truss without compromising its structural integrity, before cutting them up and disposing of them as scrap metal. All this on a crowded site with construction of the new structures well underway.

Contract Value £20-£50k

Posted on

Property Portfolio Due Diligence

Subadra has just completed environmental investigations at a portfolio of 25 retail petrol filling station sites on behalf of a major oil company. The project was brought to completion on time and on budget, using a combination of our own drilling equipment, our in-house UKAS accredited laboratory and reported by our highly experienced consultants.

Contract Value: £100-200k

Posted on

Save Our Sprouts!

Allotment holders in Great Kingshill are rejoicing at the results of our recent soil testing that has confirmed the soil at the site is not contaminated as a result of fly-tipping and that they don’t have to pull up their winter brassica. The sprouts for Christmas dinner have been saved! For more details see Bucks Free Press.

Posted on

Satisfying Planning Conditions

Look What We Found....

Environmental planning conditions are commonplace in brownfield development and much of our work is involved in the negotiation of discharge of such conditions. We have developed excellent relationships with Planning Authorities and Environment Agency/Scottish Environment Protection Agency over the years and enjoy a good success rate in planning condition discharge.

Earlier in the year Subadra were commissioned to assist in a significant phased retail development on the south coast of England. The site is within Zone I of a Source Protection Zone, overlies Chalk and is 40m from surface water. In other words it is in an extremely environmentally sensitive location. Initial investigation works had identified diesel and waste oil in shallow groundwater under the site.

This is where owning our own drill rigs and our own laboratory comes into play! We were able to delineate and characterise the contamination, and install sentinel wells within a month and without delaying the build programme. As a result of our detailed assessment, we’ve negotiated a long-term remedial solution for the site, installed the required groundworks and construction works have commenced.