On 16 and 17 June, NICOLE organized its 2016 Spring workshop on “Turning Failure into Success – what can we learn when remediation does not go as planned?”.

The workshop received a large number of participants from more than 20 countries. The presentations were well-received and attracted several new NICOLE members. The presentations are available for members on the NICOLE website in the organisation/member documents after logging in.

Please reserve time in your agenda for the upcoming NICOLE workshops:
-3-4 November 2016 – Looking Back at the Future: NICOLE 20th anniversary (Call for Abstracts)
-7-9 June 2017 – Spring Workshop in Milan
-4-6 October 2017 – Fall Workshop in Copenhagen (Back-to-back meeting with ICCL)

After an election within the Service Provider Group (SPG), Phil Crowcroft (ERM) was elected as the new SPG Vice-Chair and became a member of the Steering Group (SG).

Additionally, Rick Parkman (AECOM) took over the chair position of Arthur de Groof (SWECO) who in turn took over the Senior Chair for SPG. Thanks go to Saray MacKay (ERM), who has moved on and has left the SG.
 

The ‘new’ SPG representatives, from left to right: Phil, Rick and  Arthur.

To celebrate NICOLE’s 20 year anniversary, we have invited a number of honorary guests that have been with us since NICOLE’s early days. Paolo Cortesi is a former chairman of NICOLE, and has left us with an inspirational message.

I was chairman of NICOLE from the beginning of 1999 till april 2002.  During that time I was responsible for the Environmental Department in Enichem, the petrochemical branch of ENI, the Italian Oil&Energy company, which joined NICOLE in year 1999 and, to celebrate the event, hosted in Rome the annual meeting of the network.

At the end of nineties, Italy was in the process to deliver its own regulatory framework on contaminated land and relevant remediation, so it was important for industry to bring in the debate in progress in Italy the risk assessment concept and to make available the experience developed in other countries and in NICOLE.

Indeed, the main focus of the NICOLE activity was, at that time, to promote the Risk-based approach to contaminated soil remediation issue, tailoring the remediation target upon the use of the soil, lobbying against the prevailing dig-and-dump approach that was, at that time, unavoidable on the basis of legislations requesting always to obtain the pristine status of a totally uncontaminated wild area.

To read further, please click here.

Happy birthday NICOLE and best wishes for 20 more years of success!!
 

Paolo Cortesi     
Versalis – ENI
21 June, 2016

Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) and Fluoroprotein (FP)/ Film Forming Fluoroprotein Foam (FFFP) foam have been used since the 1960s and 1970s, respectively, for the suppression of class B (flammable liquid) fires at airports, refineries and other major petroleum facilities. In recent years, however, the use of these has been challenged due to concern that certain poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used in their formulation exhibit PBT characteristics (Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic). While alternative PFAS-free foams are now commercially available, concerns have been raised that these may be less effective for fighting large-scale flammable liquid fires and that other issues such as shelf life, compatibility with conventional application equipment and suitability of different materials for storage have not been fully evaluated.

The report has been reviewed by members of the Concawe Special Taskforce on Soil and Groundwater, and the Emerging Contaminant Working Group of the Network for Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe (NICOLE).

The full report can be found by clicking here.

A very warm welcome to our new member Transform Land!

Transform Land brings extensive experience in providing unique solutions to landowners with brownfield and contaminated sites. 
 
For more information please visit their website.