Revitalization of the Land Contaminated with Mercury, Albania
Revitalization of the Land Contaminated with Mercury in the Area of the Former Production of Cl-PVC in Vlora, Albania
This project is realized on the basis of a decision of the Czech government by a consortium of the companies Vyzkumny ustav organickych syntez a.s. Pardubice-Rybitvi (general contractor), GEOtest Brno, a.s. and AZAS INVEST s.r.o., Opava. The partner organization on the Albanian part is the Institute of Chemical Technology Research and Design in Tirana.
The cooperation between the consortium members and the Albanian contractual partner is governed by both the National Environmental Program of Albania and the Albanian National Program of Waste Management, focused on industrial and hazardous wastes.
In Albania there are a lot of sites heavily polluted by harmful and hazardous substances released into the environment. One of the sites (environmental hot spots) is the former factory that produced PVC, chlorine, caustic soda, hydrogen, hydrochloric acid and other chemicals. In the past, about 70 tons of mercury was released from the production into the vicinity. Soil, groundwater, sea and marine deposits.
The project represents a concrete example of the actual aid of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Albania to eliminate the massive ecological load for further development and investment and thus to build a cleaner environment a and to create better living conditions for the Albanian population.
Stage 1: Evaluation of ecological damages and remediation technologies
The work carried out by the company GEOtest Brno, a.s. in the year 2002:
- Reconnaissance of the area of interest and pilot measurement of mercury concentrations in ambient air by a mobile analyzer
- Geophysical survey focused on the detection of the shallow geologic structure of the area of interest
- Construction of a detached laboratory in Vlora with options of analysing gaseous, liquid and solid samples for mercury contents
- Geochemical survey focused on the detection of mercury contamination in groundwater, atmosphere, soils and marine sediments of the Vlora Bay
- Determination of contamination of building structures at the factory site
- Installation of hydrogeological monitoring boreholes and determination of the degree of contamination and the direction of groundwater flow
- Performance of physical-chemical analyses of groundwater and soils, including determination of concentrations of mercury and other ecologically hazardous heavy metals
- Preparation of field documentation and elaboration of a progress report, including map outputs
- Production of a remediation technology optimised for local conditions
General view
of the Vlora Cl-PVC factory
Outlet of wastewater sewage
system from the factory
to the Adriatic Sea
Contamination hot spot:
Building of the former factory.
Mercury concentration in the air
exceeds 50 µg/m³!
Measurement of mercury
concentration in the ambient air
Metallic mercury gravitationally
separated from a material taken
inside the building.
Concentration: 60 g/kg!
Geophysical measurement
(resistivity sounding)
Stage 2: Assembly of the remediation technology and pilot operation
The work carried out by the company GEOtest Brno, a.s. in the year 2003:
- Production of the individual parts of the remediation technology according to the project documentation in the Czech Republic, transport to a detached workplace in Albania
- Assembly in compliance with a bilateral agreement
- Pilot tests of the technological process
- Analytical activity relating to the technology operation
- Technological modifications resulting in the increase of the efficiency of mercury removal from contaminated soils
- Evaluation of the pilot operation
Transport of the technology from the CR
- at the place of destination
after a long trip
Construction of a sedimentation basin
First action
Work on the building
of the control room ...
The basic part of the remediation
technology already shows
its concrete outlines
and on the technology itself
Stage 3: Additional modifications of the remediation technology and long-term operation
The work carried out by the company GEOtest Brno, a.s. (2004-2006):
The long-term operation of the remediation technology was commenced. Thanks to the expert experience and the additional modifications made in this period, we can state that the technological line is fully prepared for the whole decontamination of the industrial site. The amount of the extracted mercury is of the order of hundreds of kilograms. The technology reaches up to 96 % in efficiency at high input mercury concentrations.
Besides the operation, supplementary analytical activity was conducted as well, not only at the former factory site itself, but also in the nearest vicinity, including marine sediments of the Vlora Bay. The additional survey resulted in the better understanding of the contaminant migration and also in a possibility to create hypotheses of the further potential development.
In 2006, the financial participation of the Czech Republic in this project was extended still within the programme of the solution of the Kosovo crisis, the stabilisation and recovery of Southeastern Europe (Decree of the Government No. 293/06). Considering the volume of the funds, the long-intended technological modifications, among others, have been carried out. They guarantee the faultless long-term operation and a standardly high decontamination level.
A general view
of the remediation technology
A new vibration
screen
Another view of the remediation
technology
Operation of the technology
- checking and control job
This is also one
of the working conditions
Inside the site of the former
factory, people still live today,
fully exposed to the effect
of contamination
GEOtest Brno, a.s., Smahova 112, 659 01 Brno tel.: 548 125 111*, 548 125 308, fax: 545 217 979, e-mail: trade@geotest.cz