Case Study - Site Decommissioning, Russia

CRA was retained to provide environmental management and supervision services for decommissioning of an electroplating facility in St Petersburg, Russia. The site had been acquired by a multinational company and CRA was responsible for ensuring that the decommissioning of the site was carried out to meet both environmental regulations and corporate standards.

Production on the site had been run down over the preceding months and initially CRA completed a waste inventory to assess the quantity of residual waste and hazardous materials remaining on site from previous activities. CRA classified and arranged disposal for over 150 intermediate bulk containers of spent plating chemicals.

Historical operating information and manuals were sparse and CRA therefore carried out a detailed process audit to identify areas where residual contamination may be present on remaining equipment, structures and surfaces. Contamination levels were quantified by swab sampling with analysis of swabs carried out at a contract laboratory in St Petersburg, and verified by a second laboratory in the UK.

Following full quantification of contamination and assessment of wastes, a facility decommissioning plan was prepared and CRA provided supervision for all subsequent stages of work. Using a phased approach, elements of the process were decommissioned, equipment dismantled and building structures and surfaces cleaned. Throughout the process CRA supervised the operation of the wastewater treatment plant on site to ensure compliance with discharge regulations. The wastewater treatment plant was then drained, treatment chemicals disposed of, and equipment decontaminated and dismantled. CRA provided contractor supervision throughout.

Verification of decontamination was made by further swab sampling and air quality sampling, as required by local environmental regulations.