KOMMERSANT DOM: Ground for Suspicions
26 September 2013
KOMMERSANT DOM: Ground for Suspicions
Industrial Areas
Areas of industrial enterprises have today become the main construction sites of Moscow. But previous enterprises, even the most “harmless” are areas of an increased ecological risk. Most developers of previous industrial areas try to save money on soil remediation. Buyers of accommodations are inclined to underestimate the danger but some of soil contaminations are indeed hazardous.
Four to One
More and more accommodations in Moscow are constructed where plants and factories used to stand. Some developers, for example, PIK Group of Companies, have almost all new projects of this type. Old Moscow industrial areas Karacharovo, Kolomenskoe, Vorontsovo right before your eyes are turning into new residential districts. But this is only the surface and what if to dig deeper?
Unfortunately, it is not recommended to dig deeper in most of the former industrial zones. Just under lawns and children’s playgrounds there is soil contaminated with oil-products, heavy metals and other inseparable companions of the Soviet industry.
Not long ago the managing company Clever Estate published the results of their own research. As reported by the company, in more than 80% of cases developers violate norms related to demolition of industrial enterprises and further elimination of waste. The most common violation concerns contaminated soil remediation. “I will not state that in case of demolition of industrial enterprises there never takes place soil remediation but at the same time it is the fact that developers do their best to save money on it,” Sergey Krekov, General Director of Clever Estate.
—“One out of five developers performs all the necessary actions,” Nikolay Krivozertsev, Head of Environmental Impact Audit Department of the Ecostandard said.
The presence of a plant itself is not the ground for soil replacement. The decision is taken on the basis of an environmental impact audit which is to assess the level of contamination.
— “What does actually happen? In most cases developers agree with a survey contractor that they would draw up not so strict conclusion that would not require soil remediation.” Nikolay Krivozertsev said. “They ask to make advances, explain that there are no expensive ecological actions envisaged by the budget. We do not agree. But other ecologists easily underestimate danger at least by one level.
Taking into account that there are dozens of organizations providing services of environmental impact audit, it is always possible to find those who will agree. According to SanPin 2.1.7.1287-03, there are four classes of contamination. Soil can be clean, moderately dangerous, dangerous, and the difference here is crucial.
—“Everything is clear with clean soil: it can be used repeatedly in the course of excavation and construction works without restrictions,“ Vladimir Podkolzin Head of Federal State Unitary Enterprise Central Project Association at Spetsstroy of Russia said. Moderately dangerous soil requires to be covered with at least 20 cm of clean soil; the dangerous type requires at least 50 cm of clean soil. Extremely dangerous soil should be taken away and moved with further disposal at a special scrapheap. But this is a very expensive action to do.
Scales Sometimes Impress
— “One developer with whom we worked at the Lyubertsy aeration fields, had to remove 12 m of soil,” Nikolay Krivozertsev remembers. “Though, on usual sites it is enough to take away 0.5-1 m.”
Millions into Soil
It is not enough just to move away contaminated soil. It requires disposal which also costs money. Developers have to pay for new soil even more. According to the calculations of Clever Estate, removal of contaminated soil costs 550 rubles per cubic metre and delivery of clean soil is 17 thousand rubles per cubic metre.
— “Expenses on reclamation can make up to 8% of project cost,” PIK Group of Companies states. “For example, in our residential complex Bolshoe Kuskovo it is about 1 billion rubles.”
The residential complex Bolshoe Kuskovo is a particular case as it is being erected on the territory of the former Kuskovo chemical plant. The area of the site is 14 ha and it is planned to turn 2.65 ha of them into public gardens and boulevards. In relation to specifics of industry, reclamation works reached 8 m to the deep.
But serious soil reclamation concerns not only former chemical enterprises. Thus, Restavracia N carries out construction of the elite residential quarter Knightsbridge Private Park at the place of a quite harmless, at a first site, facility – a bread-baking factory.
— A bread-baking factory does not belong to the facilities dangerous for people’s health but still such site has its peculiarities – says Timur Sukharev, Commercial Director of Restavracia N. “The results of examinations held have shown that the soil on the territory of the former industrial enterprise does not comply with the standards of San PiN. They had to be reclaimed and made suitable for planting different kinds of plants: almost two thirds of the area of the quarter will be occupied by a private park. We had, in fact, to cover up with soil one underground floor.
According to KR Properties, in case of construction at industrial areas average expenses on soil reclamation amount to 5-10% from a general construction budget a project. Is then the desire of developers to save money so surprising?
—“It often happens that the developer uses common sense and still reclaims soil but only partially,” Nikolay Krivozertsev says. “For example, it changes soil under playgrounds and public gardens and does not change it under houses. I must recognise that norms are really too strict.
Ground-Air
Of course, it is reasonable to clean children’s playgrounds first of all. Children play on the ground, can even ingest it.“ Assessment of adverse effects of soil contamination in case of its direct influence on human body is important for cases of children’s geophagy when they play on contaminated soil” is written in the Methodical Guidelines for Assessment of Danger Level of Soil Contamination with Chemicals written in A.N. Sysin Research Institute of Human Ecology and Environmental Hygiene. “A procedure for such assessment has been worked out for the most widespread contaminant in inhabited localities - lead which is usually in soil accompanied by increase of content of other elements. In case the content of lead in soil at a playground is at the level of 500 mg/kg and it is systematically present in the soil, we can expect changes in children’s psychoneurological status.”
But if the matter was about only eating soil, soil contamination would not be such a big problem. But heavy metals from soil easily become airborne. In the same Methodical Guidelines there are the following calculations: “In case of lead content in soil at the level from 250 mg/kg in the region of the active sources of contamination, its concentration above maximum allowable indicators is observed in atmospheric air (0.3 ug/cubic metre), in case of copper content in soil starting from 1,500 mg/kg, its concentration above maximum allowable indicators is observed in atmospheric air (2.0 ug/cubic metre). The same happens to other metals.
Even the category of moderate soil contamination suggests exceeding of its maximum allowable concentration of chemicals in soil. Air over such soil will be not healthy. Do we have to mention more serious contaminations?
Almost each industry leaves its traces in soil. Instrument engineering contaminates soil with lead, nickel, cadmium, zinc, bismuth. Plastic production pollutes it with sulphur compounds, copper and zinc. A cement plant emits barium, mercury, zinc and strontium.
—“According to the typography these are heavy metals,” Boris Ksenofontov, Doctor of Engineering from the Ecology and Safety Department of Bauman University, says. “Mechanic engineering leaves washing and cooling liquids and heavy metals in soil. If vehicles actively drive across the enterprise, the soil gets contaminated with oil-products.
One of the main companions of serious transport load is benzapyrene created in the process of fuel combustion. It is a recognised carcinogen. And not only industrial areas in Moscow are polluted with it. In spring, for example, ecologists from Ecostandard examined the soil of Gorky Park. And most territory turned out to be two- or three-times excess of permissible exposure limit of this substance.
Even food industry cannot be considered fully harmless. There are special contaminants there.
—“At one of the Moscow meat-processing plants wastewater sludge gathered. The management did not want to pay to treat them,” Boris Ksenofonton remembers. “Organics is also dangerous. One of the classical examples is Lyublino. When on the former disposal fields a new district was constructed, contaminated soil was taken away not to the full extent. Putrefaction was then observed with emission of methane, hydrogen sulphide and other gases. First of all these are hazardous substances: they have maximum allowable concentration. Secondly, soil subsidence is possible
Today there is large-scale housing construction on other disposal fields, the Lyubertsy fields. And the developer described by Nikolay Krivozertsev who conscientiously replaced 12 m of soil is rather an exception than a rule. So, the history is likely to repeat itself.
Of course, methane is almost harmless. But hydrogen sulphide already belongs to the substances of the second class of hazard. Different chemical contaminants are harmful for a human to a different extent. That is why it is common practice to divide them in classes of hazard. For example, mercury and benzapyrene belong to the first, most serious class and copper and nickel belong to the second class.
— “Benzapyrene is not sulphuric acid used for personal vendetta,” Igor Kryatov, Head of Soil Hygiene Laboratory of Research Institute of People Ecology and Environmental Hygiene said. “But it is accumulated. You can live quietly for 10-15 years and then get throat cancer.
Chemical contamination of industrial areas is not the only danger. The soil of former plants can also turn out to be radioactive.
— “There used to be sources of nuclear radiation widely used in industry,” Vladimir Denisov, Deputy Chairman of Ecology and Safety Department of Bauman University said. “First of all, practically in all research institutions they were used for experiments. Even at a polymer film plant they were necessary for neutralisation of electrostatic charging. That is why in Moscow spots of radiation unknown before are found from time to time.
However, it is a rare case. According to Ecostandard, such findings happen averagely twice a year. And serious chemical contaminations are found not at all Moscow production facilities.
Customers Do Not Care
Notwithstanding all the dangers, it seems soil contamination upsets only experts. Customers do not ask such questions.
— “Theoretically, of course, ecological situation should be taken into account when real estate is bought. However, our fellow countrymen, owing to their mentality, do not pay much attention to this factor,” states Mariya Litinetsakya, General Director of Metrium Group. To a greater extend they focus on historically formed level of prestige of a certain Moscow area, proximity to certain sites, transport accessibility. Even in the segment of suburban real estate, where moving into a private house is related exactly to improvement of ecological conditions, a rare customer asks about examination of water, air and soil.
And even if it comes to ecology, soil will be the last to attract customer’s interest.
— “I have never come across a question from a customer concerning soil composition,”says Irina Kharchenko, General Director of the development company Vysota. “They are interested rather in construction materials and engineering systems.”
After purchasing no one returns to the issue of soil quality.
— “If we try to seek claims directly against developers in relation to the ecological quality of housing, it will turn out that there are practically none of them,”said Maksim Mozgov, Senior Legal Advisor of CMS Russia. “There are complaints about wet and curved walls, about quality of window units. Citizens are not used to defend their ecological requirements in court. Apart from that, there is no guarantee that a court will recognise violation significant enough to terminate a real estate sale and purchase agreement and compensate losses. If a person refers for compensation of harm to his health, it will be necessary to prove not only the fact of incompliance of accommodations with standards but also direct connection between health deterioration and violations committed by the developer. It is very difficult.
That is why it is better to find out about soil quality before buying accommodations in an industrial area. The problem is evident; there are dangerous contaminations and there are unfair developers who ignore them. Of course, it will be difficult to examine soil on your own. But it makes sense to find out what industry was there before and to ask the developer about ecological activities.
Still there is no point in refusing from accommodations built in the place of plants. Because after proper soil reclamation is made it can be safer and cleaner than in the central Moscow parks.
Source: Kommersant Dom