A 72’ x 300’ Cover-All Arch
building has proved to be an
integral part of a remediation
process for a site formally
used to manufacture dynamite during
World War II.
In 2001, WTI (WasteTron Inc.) was
contracted by the Huntington District
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
remediate a contaminated site to a habitable
state. Plans included cleaning
the site through a composting process
to stabilize the soil to a safe and usable
resource.
“Rather than the traditional methods
such as capping the contaminated
areas, or sending the soil for incineration,
our client decided to try a pilot
program using bio-remediation. By
composting the soil and letting nature’s
‘bugs’ do the work, we have been able
to remediate the soil below regulatory
limits. The project is proving to be
time-effective and cost-effective,” says
Ryan Wheeler, WTI spokesperson.
WTI identified ‘hot pockets’ of
contaminated soil on the site, and
transported it to the composting area.
The soil is placed in windrows and
amendments such as straw and chicken
manure are added, and then turned
daily by a large compost machine. The
microbial action that occurs during
composting significantly reduces the
contamination.
“There is a very fine line of how
much moisture needs to be present in
the soil for the bio-remediation to
work. The Cover-All building has been
a help in that regard by keeping the
weather elements at bay for us,”
Wheeler said.
A 4” centre ridge-vent in the ceiling
runs the length of the Arch building,
which allows condensation to exhaust,
and large fans were installed at each
end of the building for proper ventilation.
An 18’ x 18’ door was installed on
one end of the building so large
machinery can enter the building.
The clear-span space allows ample
room for workers, the windrow turner
and other machinery. As well, the fabric
membrane is not affected by the
corrosive gases and will never rust.
Although there are still several
months left in the projects, WTI is
happy with the initial results.
When this project is complete, WTI
plans to disassemble the Arch building
and move it to other locations for several
applications.
