Led by the BARJANE property estate group, the Parc des Aiguilles project aims to organise and develop the new sustainable logistics platform for the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area. The 60-hectare site, where detrimental activities were major nuisances for a number of years, consisted of:
- 15,000 m3 of ground waste identified, 1/3 containing asbestos
- 42,000 m3 of buried waste
- 5,000 m3 of concentrated oil, mercury, and PCB (persistent organic pollutants) pollution.
All this waste must be carefully sorted on site and directed to the appropriate treatment facilities.
A FUEL-FLEDGED ON-SITE SORTING CENTRE
In June 2021, Séché Éco-Services (SES), a subsidiary of Séché Environnement specialised in environmental services, will start the decontamination of the area. The operations begin with the implementation of a response plan adapted to the type of waste and pollution identified on the Parc des Aiguilles brownfield.
For the ground waste, the SES teams first perform a macro-sort. The various separated types of waste (tyres, wood, asbestos, green waste, decommissioning waste, etc.) are then stored in a previously sealed allotment area to prevent any transfer of pollution to the surrounding land.
More precise screening will then refine the sorting to optimise the reusable portion and to organise the disposal of the waste at the Group’s appropriate recovery and treatment centres.
Pierre Traineau, Director of Operations at Séché Éco-Services, on the site
In areas with higher concentrations of pollutants, SES was able to isolate hydrocarbon pellets resulting from soil screening operations. After conditioning, they will be sent to Séché Environnement’s thermal treatment centres. As for the soil, the aim is to reduce their pollutant concentration thresholds for reuse as backfill on the site. It will be sorted and placed in a biopile to undergo biological treatment. This process greatly reduces the site’s carbon footprint.
Completed on time, the decontamination site now moves on to the work of laying out this official “turnkey industrial site”.
Séché Éco-Services is the Séché subsidiary specialised in environmental services. The teams have developed expertise to step in and take action on all environmental issues that companies and territories may rencounter:
- decontamination
- rehabilitation of sites, including with pyrotechnic risk,
- management and recovery of polluted soils,
- treatment of industrial effluents (for construction sites or creation of facilities),
- demolition,
- dismantling,
- asbestos removal, etc.
Their services can be one-off (e.g. at work sites) or last longer under delegated management contracts integrating the provision of human resources within companies.
