
The remediation project, approved by the Directorate General for the Natural Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment and the Maó Town Council, will affect a surface area of 1,600 m2 and the volume of soil to be treated will amount to 7,600 m3. Although the plot occupied by the old installation is 7,000 m2, traces of hydrocarbon have only been detected in less than a quarter of the land.
The environmental project aims to recover the land of the old plant for any urban use, although for the time being it is classified for port use. It also contemplates the treatment of groundwater by means of a purification system and reinjection into the subsoil.
After carrying out different research studies and environmental characterization of the subsoil, the method chosen to treat the land was bioremediation.
The selected remediation technique enables soil cleaning through biological processes and consists of favoring the development of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria in the soil through treatment with nutrients and control of humidity and oxygenation conditions. This solution requires less energy consumption, less noise impact and lower emissions. This process will also allow remediation work to be carried out without interfering with the municipality’s normal activities.
Excavation of the various affected areas will continue for one month. Subsequently, the biological treatment of the extracted soils and their periodic turning will begin in order to achieve natural decontamination. Once the analyses of the samples are optimal and the Administration gives its approval, the clean soils will be deposited again in the vessels from which they were extracted.
The soils most impacted by hydrocarbons may require more intense treatments and even a transfer to the Milà landfill is not ruled out. LITOCLEAN will be the company in charge of the decontamination, and the Minorcan construction company M. POLO will carry out the excavation works.
It is estimated that the remediation work in Cala Figuera will take approximately 10 months.