Grontmij and the Environment Agency won Best communications/stakeholder engagement at the BB Remediation Innovation Awards for their Part 2A project at West Street, Yarm.
The 0.1ha site, a former gasworks now a terrace of six homes, was determined as contaminated land by Stockton Borough Council (SBC) in January 2006 and subsequently designated a Special Site. The site lies adjacent to the Grade II listed Yarm viaduct.
Remediation comprised excavation of the upper 900mm of contaminated soil, replacement with clean soils and removal of a tar tank to 2.5m depth. A cover system was placed across the front gardens and the garage area resurfaced. The project team, as well as SBC, the EA and Grontmij, included VHE as Principal Contractor. Key stakeholders included Network Rail (owner of the viaduct), the Health Protection Agency and National Grid.
Building community support
Mindful of the sensitivity of the site and the need for effective communication to gain the acceptance of residents and the wider community, SBC dedicated much time to informing residents and neighbours of the status of the site. Prior to the first investigations in September 2004, a drop-in surgery was held and affected residents visited, with contact details of the Council and other organisations (e.g. health care providers and Northumbrian Water) provided.
The team took care to understand the residents' different circumstances (they included an elderly lady, a newborn baby and a disabled resident) and were flexible in the way they communicated to suit individual needs.
Thought was given to the dissemination of technical information - it needed to be factually correct and presented in plain English as well as minimising anxiety. Residents were given the option of having their gardens reinstated like for like, or to have their gardens changed (up to the same cost).
Care was taken to minimise disturbance to the community by, for example, the use of covered skips to store soils rather than short-term stockpiling on site. For the residents the key objective was to ensure minimum disruption and completion on schedule.
Spreading the word
The tender process for the Principal Contractor had a significant weighting for contractors with experience of similar situations and the site team was selected because of their approachability and experience in dealing with the public from working on similar projects for National Grid. All team members likely to be present on site were introduced personally to the residents. Residents as a result were sufficiently well informed as to be able to answer questions from passers by.
Initial press reports at the time of the determination were alarmist: e.g. ‘How toxic is my garden?' When the EA became involved (bringing their corporate affairs and external relations departments to the table), a communications plan was developed and headlines began to take a more positive note: e.g. ‘Clean-up vow - contaminated land given top priority'.
Further positive reports followed completion of the remediation works illustrating the acceptance by residents that works had been completed successfully. One elderly resident wrote to the EA stating her satisfaction with the way the project has been managed. Overall within the community the works were recognised as a positive way forward to deal with the potential blight that the determination could have brought.
"A valuable checklist of how to engage with people caught up in a land contamination problem" John Campbell
