ETC Soil Remediation, A More Efficient Way to Treat Explosives-Contaminated Soil.
When industries are ready to restore sites contaminated with explosives-impacted soil, they can cut their timeline in half — while staying on budget — by choosing to deploy advanced technology that’s proven to outpace traditional soil remediation methods.
In the U.S., it’s estimated there are over 1.2 million tons of explosives-impacted soil contaminated sites. It goes without saying that this soil can have a range of negative impacts on the environment. RDX, for example, is one type of contamination and is a WW-II era weapon (one of the world’s most powerful explosives). It has been found in drinking water across the United States and many believe it poses a significant threat to human health.
Until now, the remediation process for explosives-impacted soil has been long and cumbersome, but Iron Creek Group’s award-winning, patented Enhanced Thermal Conduction (ETC) soil remediation technology introduces a game-changing way to efficiently restore the soil so vacant land can be repurposed for private or public use.
Traditional Remediation is Cumbersome and Labor Intensive
Traditional soil remediation treatment technologies are slow-moving and insufficient. These thermal technologies require heavy, cumbersome equipment like large rotary kilns, screens, augers and conveyor belts which can take 2 to 3 weeks to install on-site before operations can begin.
Once underway, the process demands 24/7 attention from ground crews who have to operate the machinery and feed the contaminated soil into the production line. The large rotary kilns used in traditional remediation spit soil at 1200 degrees so it needs to be cooled. Crews cool it with water which releases contaminated dust and steam into the air. The technological deficiencies from these traditional thermal remediation methods can result in up to 30% of reject material which requires trucking or shipping the rejected waste off site to landfills.
The old way of treating explosives-impacted soil is labor intensive, expensive and precarious. There's substantially more liability associated with the 24/7 operation of heavy equipment compounded by the risk of trucking waste on public roads to landfills.
New ETC Technology Streamlines Soil Remediation
In stark comparison, Iron Creek Group’s patented ex-situ ETC technology is nimble, mobile and adaptable to space requirements, making even the most remote locations accessible. Plus, the simplicity of our innovative design allows our team to truck or fly in equipment and be fully operational in 2 to 3 days.
This unique system treats contaminated soil sediments in place, without conveyors, augers or kilns which improves the overall safety of the operation. A small ground crew is onsite during the day, but the treatment cells are remotely monitored at night eliminating the need for 24/7 staffing.
The explosives-impacted soil undergoes a slow thermal treatment for several days inside Enhanced Thermal Conduction cells, resulting in a 100% waste-free treatment. After heating the soil, it air cools.
Once the process is complete, the soil is sterile and perfectly safe to use. ETC technology does not pulverize the soil. So, the soil retains its structure and will automatically revegetate when rain and groundwater replenishes the bacteria and microbes.
Iron Creek Group’s approach to remediating explosives-impacted soil is safe, swift, efficient and cost effective. Importantly, the contingent liability associated with trucking or shipping hazardous waste is non-existent.
Munitions Sites Can Safely Be Repurposed for Land Use
The Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant was first constructed during WW-II to produce large projectiles and bombs and spanned more than 20,000 acres in Ohio. After WW-II, production was revived for the Korean and Vietnam war, and then the plant was used to demilitarize war stocks. Years ago, those operations ceased and the buildings were torn down, but the demolition resulted in explosives-contaminated soil.
After years of sitting dormant, the Army had plans to develop the site into a training facility. Iron Creek's team set up ETC cells in the fall of 2020 to remediate a small 6,000 tons of explosives-impacted soil consisting of TNT, Composition B (a combination of TNT and RDX), sulfates, nitrates and organic compounds.
Not only did the ETC soil remediation technology achieve results that exceeded the Industrial Remedial Goal Options (RGO) and EPA regulations, but the site was ready for development in just three months.
Today, RVAAP is a training facility for the Ohio Army National Guard called Camp James A. Garfield Joint Military Training Center.
There are countless explosives-impacted sites all over the world. As governments and developers seek to repurpose explosives-contaminated land, Iron Creek Group’s ETC technology offers a more efficient, predictable alternative to traditional thermal soil remediation technologies.
About Iron Creek Group
Serving North America, Iron Creek Group is an award-winning, innovative thermal soil remediation company that specializes in the thermal treatment of the most difficult wastes in the most challenging locations. Founded in 2015 by a team of environmental experts with vast backgrounds in waste removal, recycling and soil remediation, the group specializes in alternative soil remedial technologies that are proven, predictable, environmentally-friendly and cost effective. Learn how they’re leveraging technology to challenge the existing thermal remediation paradigm by visiting, https://www.ironcreekgroup.com
For questions and further information, please email Ken Bell: ken@ironcreekgroup.com.