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Using ‘wastes’
to treat waste land
WTRs could be the key to providing effective,
readily available ecological methods for
regenerating brownfield land, but how are
these ‘wastes’ actually able to treat soil with
a large range of contaminants that have been
in place for years, even decades? There is a
wide spectrum of contaminants present in
brownfield sites formerly used by industry. The
North East of England was once a well-known
centre of the coal mining industry. Many of its
former industrial sites have been reduced to
little more than wasteland carrying levels of
contamination far above national standards.
“Brownfield land is a really important issue in
the North East, but it is also overlooked. There
are often a lot of brownfield sites lying around
as stagnant, barren wastelands and they are
often eye sores or attract unwelcome attention”,
says Nina Finlay, a researcher on ROBUST who
is doing her PhD on the effects of WTRs on
contaminants in soil.
Minerals from WTRs do one of two things to
contaminants in the land: they either adsorb
them completely, making them stick to the
surface of the material, which prevents them
from moving through the soil, or oxidise them,
breaking down organic contaminants such as
Land, community
and health
One of the biggest reasons for regenerating
brownfield land is to improve the environment
for existing communities that live near former
industrial sites and to create new communities
on brownfield sites. This also involves engaging
with the people who are likely to benefit the
most from applying sustainable methods for
regenerating brownfield. “Previously, there
haven’t been any remediation techniques
available to councils that are cost effective”,
says Johnson. Brownfield regeneration may not
only improve the health of the land, but also the
health of the people who live on it by making
them feel better about their local environment.
Former industrial sites pock marking the
landscapes that people call home can affect
different aspects of their health. In former
coalfield communities in North East England,
many people suffer from debilitating long-term
illness. While the direct cause(s) of illness
amongst people who live near former coalf Y[ \