Remediation of Poland's railway land 

For years, areas in the vicinity of Poland's railway industrial facilities, buildings and plants has been plagued by environmental problems. Oil and fuel spillages have contaminated the soil and are threatening groundwater aquifers. And for several decades neither the funding nor the technology has been available to make a concrete effort to deal with the problems of untreated wastewater, hazardous waste and contaminated soil, etc.

Now the regional division of Polish State Railways in south-western Poland has implemented a project that could well be expanded to the rest of the country. In a collaborative effort involving DANCEE in Denmark, Polish State Railways and Canada's Ministry of the Environment, a range of tools are under development for use in remediating contaminated land and ensuring better environmental protection in the future.

Most important areas selected

"We have identified, examined and carried out environmental risk assessments of selected sites belonging to the Polish State Railways," explains COWI project manager Jacek Jedrys. "The results have formed the basis for establishing a database to provide an overview of the problems. In addition, we have selected and prioritised the most affected and vulnerable areas where the soil needs to be immediately remediated."

COWI has designed the technical solutions, including the expansion and modernisation of a wastewater treatment plant for wagon washing centre in the city of Wroclaw. The project also embraces the introduction of modern environmental technology, economic analyses, the development of new emergency plans and training of railway staff.

Continues Jacek Jedrys: "It is unusual to have three countries involved and working together on such a project. Although it means that we gain invaluable experience sharing and the development of know-how which we can later apply throughout Poland."

The first remediation projects

The project has come about as the result of increased environmental awareness in Poland, combined with the fact that since EU accession the country is required to meet the demands of EU environmental legislation. The recommendations resulting from the project will initially be implemented in the towns of Legnica, Wegliniec and Kamieniec in south-western Poland.

Another result of this regional project is that Polish State Railways' main organisation in Warsaw has been inspired by it to establish an environmental organisation for the entire company.

Published: 20.09.2004
By: Janne Toft Jensen, jaje@cowi.dk