SOIL AND GROUNDWATER REMEDIATION IN IRAQ

www.rsk.co.uk

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RSK has been leading the field in site assessment and remediation in southern Iraq since its arrival in the country in 2010. The company has built up a large portfolio of diverse remediation projects and has a reputation for providing innovative, cost-effective solutions for large and technically difficult issues. Our clients include international oil companies such as Rumaila Operating Organisation, Basrah Gas Company and Shell Iraq Petroleum Development, and contractors such as General Electric, Technip, Chiyoda and Atlas Copco.

RSK is unique in that it can offer a complete set of vertically integrated services that take a site through assessment and remedial design to solution implementation and closure using largely in-house resources for all the contamination issues associated with oil and gas production, processing and transport.

RSK PROVIDES A COMPREHENSIVE, FULLY INTEGRATED, RISK-BASED AND DESIGN-LED SOIL AND GROUNDWATER REMEDIATION SERVICE IN IRAQ. WE DESIGN, FABRICATE, INSTALL, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN IN SITU AND EX SITU REMEDIATION SYSTEMS USING OUR HIGHLY EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL.

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RSK advocates using risk-based design and decision-making tools to gain regulatory sign-off and stakeholder buy-in for difficult and potentially costly remedial solutions. This strength is based on the unique relationships we have built with the Iraq ministries of oil and environment, and the national oil and gas companies South Oil Company and South Gas Company.

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Our life-cycle management plans contain

• business objectives, including a summary of the rationale for the work

• strategies (technical and non-technical) evaluating the technical activities against cost, benefit and risk measures to determine the preferred approach

• a defined schedule identifying target dates for meeting site- or project-specific business objectives

• the projected costs or a range of costs (best, likely and worst case) for achieving the business objectives.

RSK site assessments use a conceptual site model for the applicable contaminants of potential concern and identified source, pathways and potential receptor linkages. The conceptual site model

• identifies site-specific conditions such as lithology, hydrogeology and relevant geochemistry, and the nature, magnitude and extent of the impact

• provides an informed assessment of the potential risks to human health and the environment

• determines the need for and scope of any remediation by defining site-specific risk-based remediation standards

• collates site-specific data to facilitate the selection and design of potential remediation solutions.

Remediation delivery incorporates a risk management plan or register that prioritises resources and remedial efforts to

• reduce the potential risks (technical and non-technical) to human health or other receptors identified in the conceptual site model in the most cost-effective manner

• balance sustainability and the likelihood of the success of the desired remedial solution given the conceptual site model

• minimise waste generation by optimising reuse and recycling opportunities, ensuring waste is segregated and closely managing contractors’ working practices

• assess and maintain the cost efficiency of treatment systems throughout a project’s life cycle by applying proactive system management.

In addition, RSK will seek to manage stakeholder and regulators’ expectations proactively throughout the remediation process to ensure that projects are closed in a timely manner.

RSK DEVELOPS SITE- AND PROJECT-SPECIFIC LIFE-CYCLE STRATEGIES OUTLINING MANAGEMENT PLANS THAT COMPLY WITH THE APPLICABLE REGULATIONS, MANAGES THE RISKS AND MEETS THE BUSINESS OBJECTIVES OF ITS CLIENTS IN THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE MANNER POSSIBLE.

TECHNICAL APPROACH: RISK-BASED REMEDIAL DESIGN AND PROJECT DELIVERY

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PROJECT EXPERIENCE

REMEDIATION

BioremediationRSK conducted a field trial in South Rumaila to investigate the possibility of using bioremediation to reduce the hydrocarbon impact on contaminated soil. The trial aimed to assess the feasibility of bioremediation in a desert environment and its effectiveness on soil with different contaminant concentrations and particle size distributions. The approach used a windrow turner to homogenise the soil and other adjustments for active control of field parameters such as oxygen, temperature and moisture. All the field parameters were measured and monitored daily. The process’s progress was assessed using the temperature profiles and oxygen uptake in the windrows. The contaminant reduction was calculated from laboratory analyses for total petroleum hydrocarbons.

Monitoring results demonstrating bioactivity

Windrow turnerThe success of the bioremediation field trials led to the full-scale application of the technique. A remediation site was prepared and used to treat batch volumes in excess of 20,000 m3. Specialist plant was imported to cope with these large volumes.

Windrow turner in operation

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Produced-water pit and lagoon remediationRSK is managing the delivery of three large-scale remediation contracts to remediate oil, sludge and contaminated soil from large produced-water lakes in North Rumaila oilfield. The process involves constructing berms to isolate the target area from the wider lake followed by controlled removal of the contaminated layers. The stages include oil–water separation and removal, sludge pumping, unexploded ordinance clearance, sludge removal and, finally, contaminated soil removal. The controlled digging enables segregation of the waste streams and minimises material requiring costly thermal treatment.

PROJECT EXPERIENCE

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Oil pit remediationRSK is managing excavation works to clear oil pits arising from blowback in gas vents and other process pits. The impact can result in non-aqueous phase liquids penetrating as deep as 5 m in certain geologies. RSK has developed a risk-based management process to manage deep excavations where the groundwater is protected by in excess of 30 m of overburden.

RSK ADVOCATES USING RISK-BASED DESIGN AND DECISION-MAKING TOOLS TO GAIN REGULATORY SIGN-OFF AND STAKEHOLDER BUY-IN FOR DIFFICULT AND POTENTIALLY COSTLY REMEDIAL SOLUTIONS.

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RSK Environment llc: Al Majal Business Park, Burjessia, Basra, Iraq

Contact: Simon Jackman, southern Iraq country director (SICD) · sicd@rsk.co.uk · Tel: +964 78 3170 0305

RSK Group plc has achieved certification to the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards for quality, environmental and health and safety management.

For further information, please contact

www.rsk.co.uk