PROJECT OUTLINE

British Petroleum opened its petrochemical plant at the BP Baglan Bay location (in South Wales) in 1963, by 1968 it had grown to become the one of the largest petrochemical sites in Europe.

At the time the area was entirely occupied by industrial and commercial developments. The BP Baglan Bay Remediation Programme was initiated as a means of decontaminating an area of land that had been exposed to 40 years of petrochemical pollution, ensuring its use for safe future development.

PROJECT DELIVERY

In 2006 the programme was announced and Walters started the process of removing contaminated material from the area ” which was suffering from mercury pollutants ” with the aim of redeveloping Baglan Bay into a healthy, sustainable employment site.

Walters was contracted to excavate 22,000 m3 of mercury-contaminated material at the Baglan Bay site. This involved using machinery to remove and subsequently stockpile the contaminant at a designated area on site, before transporting it to a licensed mercury disposal facility in Buckingham.

The remaining void was filled by Walters using processed demolition material ready for the future redevelopment of the area.

In addition to the mercury issues on site, a wide range of other petrochemical and hydrocarbon contamination was also remediated successfully and safely by Walters. The site now forms part of the much enlarged Swansea University Campus.