We deliver soil remediation of contaminated land including assessment, containment, treatment and abatement solutions.

Healthy soil contains a mix of minerals, organic matter, water and various living organisms which consume and decompose organic matter.

Either intentionally or accidentally, humans introduce harmful substances that impact healthy soil on industrial, public and private land. With urban expansion, damage caused by past land use (be it spills, dumping or leaching) need to be repaired. Think: contaminants which exceed naturally occurring levels and pose a risk to human, animal and plant health – even our waterways.

How we approach contaminated soil remediation

At IES we adapt our core practices, to provide innovative remediation outcomes for contaminated soil within industrial, rural and urban sites. We deliver cleaned and restored environments for future development, reshaping the land for tomorrow.

Our approach is agile, tailoring remediation techniques to contaminants, each site, and our client’s desired outcomes. We make understanding your commercial, environment and regulatory requirements a priority. We are prepared for discovering the unexpected and adept at problem solving when we do. The costs associated with disposing contaminated soil to landfill can be untenable. Where possible, we treat contaminants onsite which is better for our client’s budget, re-use of land and the environment.

Our soil decontamination services

IES draws upon a long list of soil remediation treatments. This allows us to respond to each site, community and client’s unique requirements. On any given project, we may deploy one or more of the following (not an exhaustive list):

• Immobilisation of chemicals – bind compounds within the soil so they can no longer leach into groundwater or be absorbed by plants.
• Thermal treatment – high temperatures reduce the concentration of contaminants by the process of evaporation or oxidisation (offsite treatment).
• Bioremediation – both active and passive bioremediation to enhance natural biodegradation processes.
• Encapsulation – contain and isolate contaminated soil within a physical barrier.
• Soil washing – physically separate and extract contaminants from the soil, allowing it to recover and be re-used.
• Soil vapour extraction – essentially vacuuming the soil to remove the volatile compounds which can then be treated or destroyed.
• In-situ chemical treatment – application of chemical agents to address the contaminants without excavating the soil.
• Chemical oxidation – application of oxidising agents to either break down contaminants or to make them less toxic and easier to remove.
• Neutralisation – in acid sulfate soils, we apply alkaline materials to raise the ph and to supress further production of sulfuric acid, reducing mobility and toxicity of contaminants.
• Traditional excavation & disposal.

Our team is experienced in working with and remediating many different contaminants. The most common contaminants we encounter are listed below. If you suspect your soil is contaminated with a substance which is not on this list, give us a call, it’s likely we have a solution for it.

• Asbestos
• Hydrocarbons / petroleum products
• Auto batteries
• Solvents
• Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances
• Mercury
• Lead
• Pesticides
• Fertilisers
• Creosote