Andrés Carmona: “Working inside an airport implies a hard management task”.

LITOCLEAN’s project manager praises the work of his entire team on a project that has forced them to adapt to circumstances that were difficult to manage.

LITOCLEAN started in 2018 a project for the execution of a hydraulic barrier for the containment of groundwater that leaks hydrocarbon to a nearby sewage collector and that is still in progress. At the helm is Andrés Carmona, who has had to manage all the peculiarities of this project, which are not few. The site is located in an airport, which complicates both access and the work to be done, and has meant an extra effort in equipment maintenance due to the immense amount of product recovered: more than 1,200,000 liters.

– Recovered product figures are highly unusual – were you expecting anything like this?

Not at all, in fact, the previous estimate, which was not made by LITOCLEAN, was about 15,000 liters of total kerosene recovered, after about four years of operation. In the first week we had already recovered 11,000 liters and we had to stop to plan again because there was nowhere to store those quantities.

– What solution did you find?

We opted for valorization, which was not initially foreseen and which is a very good environmental management. We have been doing two valorizations and one sludge management per week. Almost 60% has been valorized and the rest has been managed as sludge.

– Are the teams prepared for such a job?

This is where Javier Avelino’s maintenance work comes into play, which is essential. Thanks to him, the equipment has practically never failed.

– Does this type of work at an airport involve more complex management than usual?

Working within an airport always involves an arduous management task. Before starting, in addition to the usual documentation for this type of project, the airport’s own documentation must be prepared, such as an Operational Safety Surveillance Plan (OSSP), based on the requirements of Aena, in addition to processing the necessary accreditations for the people and vehicles that will access the site. We also encountered other types of obstacles, such as height limitations or runway closures for the execution of soundings, for which we had to request permits and we were assigned a specific day and timetable… When, as the work progresses, unforeseen events arise, everything multiplies. It is an associated work that involves effort and hours.

– Another work associated with this project was the civil works.

Among the peculiarities of this project is the need to create a road to be able to enter and leave the construction site without dirtying the taxiway we had next to it, because if dirt or mud falls on it, it could pose a danger to the aircraft turbines. Initially we proposed a construction road, but it was not accepted because it was necessary to build an asphalt road, that is to say, a road had to be designed, although reduced to the minimum expression. This meant having to compact the soil, lay asphalt, etc., with all the corresponding management.

– Did you have any further complications?

The boreholes were complex because eight-inch wells, much larger than usual, had to be drilled. Drilling required about 6,000 liters of water per well to drill the gravel. To get the water, four trips a day were made with a bucket. The water could not be poured directly into the collector because it had sediment in it, so it had to be passed through two containers beforehand to decant the sediment. In addition, several months after starting the work, and despite the fact that the product extraction performance was bestial, we were informed that the discharge was still entering and we were asked to act directly in the collector, so we decided to put absorbents in some manholes and a float connected to a suction rod in two of the manholes, elements that are changed weekly.

– How do you manage to control so many open fronts at the same time and find the solution for each one of them?

Having a great team. Javier Avelino is key in the maintenance of the equipment so that nothing fails, Fran Aguayo in the installation and commissioning of the equipment, as well as during the execution of the civil works, the work of Fabiola Muñoz with the documentation has been indispensable, Carlos Herrarte, as project coordinator, has been very involved in it and in the decision making, the support of Laura López with her in the execution of the surveys has been very important … As far as management is concerned, it is an extremely demanding and complex job, but we have been able to adapt to the circumstances and overcome all the pitfalls. It is in our DNA.

In July 2020, the project is still underway and product is still being extracted, because Andrés Carmona and the entire LITOCLEAN team continue to work to obtain the best possible result.