Citychlor
CityChlor is a European project with partners from Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The aim of the project is to develop an integrated approach to tackle the threats caused by contamination with chlorinated solvents in urban areas, to improve the quality and minismise the pollution of soil and groundwater.
The densely populated areas of North West Europe face similar difficulties with the presence of chlorinated solvent pollution. Up until now, regions have partly developed their own solutions. The idea is that CityChlor will bring together different view points /opinions, experiences, tools and keys to find solutions.
The total research budget amounts to 5,2 M€ of which 50% is financed by the INTERREG IV B programme for North West Europe. The project started at the end of 2009 and will run for 3.5 years.
The final conference of this project will take place on May 16 and 17 in Ghent, Belgium. Environmental experts, consultants, policy-makers, urban planners and city representatives are invited to this conference that will present the results of the joint work of different disciplines in plenary sessions. Specific topics as techniques for characterization and remediation, urban planning, financing and communication will be treated in detail in parallel technical sessions. All information can be found on the CityChlor website.
New solutions for complex pollution
Remediation of a pollution with chlorinated solvents is complex, especially within city centres. This is why redevelopments of, for instance old historical city centres, are often hindered. The solution is to integrate both the technical and socio-economic aspects.
Integrated approach
The project aims to reduce soil and groundwater pollution. The main objective is to develop an “integrated approach for contaminated site management”. This is meant to be a holistic risk management approach for chlorinated solvents in an urban environment, facilitating brownfield redevelopment and matching the needs of sustainable urban development. It comprises aspects of environmental technology, risk assessment and communication, urban planning and economic aspects. It will facilitate a paradigm shift from the traditional “single-case treatment” to the consideration of larger areas, thus integrating spatial dimension in a transdisciplinary sense. This will contribute to the further development and increasing effectiveness of both national action plans and funding programmes aimed at the abatement of groundwater pollution and contaminated sites. Technical guidelines on how to characterise and remediate polluted soil and groundwater will be produced for specialists. In addition CityChlor will also address decision makers since they are responsible for the planning of their city. Guidelines will thus also be prepared including the process, the stakeholders and the necessary steps to be taken when confronted with a polluted site in their city.
Contact
For more information please visit our website www.citychlor.eu or mail us at info@citychlor.eu
