Sustainable remediation of a former gas works site

Admiralty Way

The Camberley Town Gas Works facility was decommissioned in the 1970s and built over by the Admiralty Park industrial estate in the 1980s. When part of the Admiralty Park industrial estate came up for redevelopment as a car showroom, there was an opportunity to remediate. The challenges? Legacy contaminants had heavily impacted soil and groundwater beneath the site, there were several large underground obstructions, and the site was constrained by critical gas infrastructure and other services. These conditions meant an ongoing contamination risk to the Blackwater River bordering the site.

We developed a remediation strategy that would improve the ground and groundwater conditions. This involved underground obstruction removal, ex-situ bioremediation, solidification and stabilisation, and hydrocarbon “free product” recovery.

Our remedial strategy encompassed material testing, treatment, and reengineering to provide a stable platform for subsequent redevelopment. Services were decommissioned or diverted to remove development constraints, and the remediation allowed for most materials to be reused on-site, reducing off-site disposal costs.

The result? A net improvement of ground and groundwater conditions which will lead to long-term improvements in water quality and the aquatic environment of the neighbouring river—and the ecosystems it sustains.