Progress report no 8.pdf Pdf, 291.9 kB.

(1)

Isolation of mercury contaminated sediment

LIFE ENVIRONMENT

Project No. LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

Progress Report No. 8 September 13, 2002 Municipality of Nykvarn

Sweden

(2)

LAKE TURINGEN REMEDIAL PROJECT Progress Report No. 8

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

2002-09-13 Page 2 (8)

LIFE Project Number

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

PROGRESS REPORT No. 8

Covering project activities from 01/01/2002 to 30/06/2002

Reporting Date

13/09/2002

LIFE PROJECT NAME

Lake Turingen Remedial Project

Project Data

Project location: Nykvarn, Sweden

Project start date: 01/02/1998 Project end date:

Extension date:

01/02/2003

30/04/2003 (Final report)

Total Project duration (in months):

Extension duration (in months):

60 months 3 months Total revised budget: SEK 50,400,000.00

EC contribution: € 890,422.15

(%) of total costs: 15.40

(%) of eligible costs: 27.62

Beneficiary Data

Name of beneficiary: Municipality of Nykvarn

Contact person: Fredrik Norberg

Postal address: SE-155 80 Nykvarn, Sweden

Visiting address: Centrumvägen 24, SE-155 80 Nykvarn, Sweden

Telephone: +46 8 552 487 00

Fax: +46 8 552 489 99

E-mail: fredrik.norberg@nykvarn.se

(3)

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

2002-09-13 Page 3 (8)

Website: http://www.nykvarn.se

(4)

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

2002-09-13 Page 4 (8)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ...5

Project Management ...5

General...5

Legal Issues...5

Technical Development ...5

Investigations ...5

Environmental monitoring ...6

Remedial Construction...6

Problems encountered or foreseen...7

Dissemination...8

Expected progress up to 31/12/2002 ...8

Financial situation...8

Scheduling ...9

Statement of submission...9 Appendices

Expenditure report ...Appendix 1 Time Schedule ...Appendix 2 Abstract of paper accepted for Symposium on Contaminated Sediments ...Appendix 3 Invitation for project seminar ...Appendix 4

(5)

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

2002-09-13 Page 5 (8)

Executive Summary

The primary objective of the Lake Turingen Remedial Project is to isolate between 90 and 95% of the mercury-contaminated sediments found in the lake and in the river Turingeån from the aquatic environment. The most important activities and results from the reporting period ended June 30, 2002 are:

• Continued preparations for Stage 2 construction (placement of artificial sediment on lake bottoms)

• Additional data showing positive results from Stage 1 construction (capping with sand and gravel of lake bottoms near the mouth of the river)

• Final preparations for project seminar.

Project Management

General

A new managing director has been appointed for the municipality of Nykvarn, Mr. Joachim Danielsson. However, Fredrik Norberg remains the designated contact person.

The project management group – consisting of the project manager, project administrator, financial administrator, dissemination coordinator, and task managers – held three meetings during the reporting period.

Legal Issues

The legal issues task has been terminated and no other legal issues are anticipated.

Technical Development

Investigations

The study initiated in Autumn 2001 – aimed at locating the source or sources of mercury that are still being transported a portion to the lake by the river – continued with additional samp- ling during Spring 2002. These data have not yet been fully evaluated, so it is still premature to form any conclusions regarding the possible need for supplementary remedial action.

No other activities are currently ongoing or planned within the investigations task.

(6)

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

2002-09-13 Page 6 (8)

Environmental monitoring

The evaluation phase following Stage 1 remediation has continued through the most recent reporting period. Results continue to demonstrate that Stage 1 activities led to a decrease in the flow of mercury-contaminated particles from the area that was capped at the south end of the lake, see Figure 1. Levels of mercury found in zooplankton, a group of indicator organisms used to track short-term biological effects, have also decreased in the southern part of the lake, see Figure 2.

Other monitoring activities continue as planned. Adjustments will be made as dictated by progress in remedial construction and results obtained through previous monitoring. The next monitoring report will be issued during early Autumn 2002.

Remedial Construction

During the reporting period, the remedial contractor continued assembly and testing of equipment for producing artificial sediment. Therefore, neither capping of the designated test area nor any full-scale capping of lake bottoms was performed as expected. The delays encountered to date mean that the contractor will not be able to complete all capping in absolute accordance with the specifications and contractual requirements.

Figure 1. Mercury in falling sediment. Horizontal line lengths represent periods during which sediment was collected.

Hg in falling sediment (µg/g dw)

-1 0 1 2 3 4

Surface Bottom

SN ^uppstream C ^Station L ^downstream M

1999 2000 2001 2002 1999 2000 2001 20021999 2000 2001 20021999 2000 2001 2002

(7)

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

2002-09-13 Page 7 (8)

Figure 2. Mercury and methyl mercury in zooplankton.

Problems encountered or foreseen

As mentioned above, as of June 30, 2002 the contractor still had a significant amount of unfinished equipment assembly and testing. The delayed assembly was a result of both late deliveries and improper design. This meant that equipment that had already been installed had to be modified or in some instances replaced. The important and sensitive units for blending and delivering artificial sediment have been especially vulnerable.

This situation has of course delayed testing of complete systems and the start of capping. As stated in Progress Report 7, this means that project management no longer has the option of following up an initial phase of gel capping and subsequently having the contractor enact appropriate changes to his equipment, methodology or materials. In addition, the effects of winter conditions on the behavior and durability of a full-scale gel cap will remain unknown until after all remedial work has been completed. Finally, and most importantly, there now is a distinct probability that the project may not be able to meet its stated goals by the planned completion date. In order to achieve as positive results as possible it is imperative that the remedial contractor fully utilizes the remaining window of opportunity before the onset of winter.

- 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 5 0 0 6 0 0 7 0 0

H g T o t M e H g H g i n z o o p l a n k t o n ( n g / g d w )

S C L M

X

1999 2000 2001 2002

S t a t i o n

1999 2000 2001 2002

u p p s t r e a m d o w n s t r e a m

(8)

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

2002-09-13 Page 8 (8)

Dissemination

Due to construction delays, dissemination activities have proceeded at a slower pace than planned. Activities during the reporting period included:

• Continued updating of the project’s Internet web site, which now has its own domain name http://www.turingen.com and is completely bilingual English/Swedish.

• Submission of a paper describing project activities and results to the 2^nd International Symposium on Contaminated Sediments to be held in Quebec, Canada in May 2003. The paper (see abstract in Appendix 3) was accepted for the symposium transactions.

• Continued planning for a project seminar regarding remediation of contaminated sediments.

The seminar (see invitation in Appendix 4) was held on September 5, 2002 and was attended by more than 100 people.

Due to the lack of ongoing remediation, only a few site visits were organized during the current reporting period and no additional project newsletters were issued.

Expected progress up to 31/12/2002

During the next reporting period, significant progress is expected in the following areas:

• Final assembly and testing of equipment for production of artificial sediment.

• Full-scale capping of test area.

• Approximately 10 weeks of production capping with artificial sediment.

• Summary and analysis of results from investigation of mercury sources in riverbed upstream of lake.

• Environmental monitoring report for the evaluation phase after Stage 1.

• Issuance of fifth project newsletter.

• Site visits.

• Project seminar on September 5, 2002.

No progress report will be issued for the next reporting period; instead, information from that period will be included in the project’s final report, which is scheduled to be issued in April 2003.

Financial situation

The financial status of the project per June 30, 2002 is shown in the expenditure report in Appendix 1. Approximately 65 % of budgeted funds have been expended, and all budget lines are in general accordance with the budget as approved by the European Commission.

(9)

LIFE98 ENV/S/000477

2002-09-13 Page 9 (8)

Scheduling

A comparison between planned and actual progress is shown in Appendix 2. The primary discrepancy at this time concerns the contractor’s completion of testing and the start of actual capping. The project is still following its overall time schedule, however overall completion of the project could be threatened if capping does not commence by the end of August 2002.

Statement of submission

The undersigned submits this progress report on the date shown below and asserts that it accurately represents the status of the project on June 30, 2002 in all pertinent regards.

Nykvarn, Sweden September 13, 2002

Ronald Bergman

Lake Turingen Remedial Project Project Manager