2.7. Pilot Project: Environmental Remediation of the Former Military Site near Pokrovskoye Settlement, Onezhsky Rayon, Archangelsk Oblast of the Russian Federation

 

The purpose of this Project was to demonstrate a cost-efficient methodology of environmental remediation of abandoned oil-contaminated military sites prior to the transfer of such sites to civil use. The Project was to disestablish the abandoned oil storage located in a 1,000 m2 pit near the river running into Onega Lake of the White Sea.

The Project was implemented by OOO GORST in cooperation with the specialized organization “OOO Ecopromservice”.

The Project Duration                                    2 October 2009 – 30 November 2010;

The Project Activities

1. Stage 1 of the remediation works (2009) included the following activities:

  1. Preparatory works;
  2. Collecting and loading oil products from the oil storage into the holding tank for temporary storage with EK-18 Excavator;
Fig.17
Figure 17. Collecting and Loading Oil Products from Oil Depot
  1. Heating the oil products locally up to 600Ñ by using tubular electric heaters and pumping the oil products through GAZ KO-503 and KAMAZ KO-505 trucks (by using pump screens) into KAMAZ and Scania bitumen distributors;
Fig.18
Figure 18. Pumping Oil Products
At Stage I, the Project collected and loaded into the bitumen distributors the total of 3,000 tons of oil products, which were then transferred to the specialized organization “OOO Ecopromservice” for use as secondary material resources.
2. Stage 1 of the remediation works (2009) included the following activities
  1. Removing 1.5 m3 of the contaminated bush from the oil storage dykes and neutralizing the bush by burning it at a Forsage-1M Installation at a temperature of 1,000 degrees;
  2. Removing 635 tons of poor oil products from the oil storage inner surfaces and dykes with an EK-18 excavator and placing them for temporary storage at the OOO GORST Production Facility in Onega, Archangelsk Oblast, until a neutralization decision is made;
  3. Removing 560 m3 (560 m3*1.65 t/m3 = 924 t) of oily soil from the adjacent territory (311.1 m2) with an EK-18 excavator and neutralizing it in an UZG-1M.1,2/6.7.12 installation at a temperature of 800 – 900 degrees;
  4. A push-type scraper and digging tools were used to carry out land shaping on an area of 0.57 ha;
Fig.19
Figure 19. Overview of Oil Storage in Pokrovskoye, Onega Rayon (after completion of levelling operations)
  1. 113.5 kg of grass and grass mix (meadow fescue grass, timothy grass, red fescue grass) was planted on an area of 0.57 ha.

The Project Outcomes 

Rehabilitating abandoned oil storages and oil-contaminated territories of abandoned military facilities and bases in the Russian Arctic brings focus on the following aspects:

  • Given the climatic and geographic factors of the environment, a specific approach should be taken when making a remediation decision for such facilities;
  • A decision should be made as to whether it will be practical to use oil sludge or substandard oil products as recyclables and to transport them to the place where these will be used;
  • In the Russian Arctic, a thermal method of remediation of the oil-contaminated territories is one of the main remediation methods;
  • The period from June to October is the best time to carry out remediation activities in the Russian Arctic;

The environmental remediation activities at the former military site near Pokrovskoye Settlement, Onezhsky Rayon, Archangelsk Oblast, cleaned up these land areas from oil products. The total of the cleaned up area was 0.57 ha (5,667 m2).

Therefore, these lands may be used for the purposes of forest management - by the types of forest plantations - or for constructing buildings, structures, and facilities for manufacturing or other similar purposes on these lands.

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