Risk Based Approach of a Gasworks Site

摘要

In the centre of the city The Hague, a site of a former gasworks is present. The production of gas started at about 1907 and the production finished in 1967. Due to the production of gas, waste is buried in the surroundings. By now, the buildings of the former plant are removed and the location attains its full development. Contamination of soil and groundwater is observed in the past. The subsoil is contaminated with cyanides and (polycyclic) aromatics. Currently, there are no direct risks for humans or for the ecology due to use of the site, due to the depth at which the contamination is present and due to the fact that the groundwater at the site is not seeping towards the soil surface but infiltrating. Therefore, only the risk of migration of contaminants dissolved in the groundwater might remain. Several aspects related with the site and the contaminants are investigated in order to assess the risks of migration. These aspects are addressed in this paper.