Progress on addressing historical legacy
Umicore advanced in its quest to address its legacy of historical pollution. The following section provides an overview of the different remedial actions taken during 2007.
Flemish Region of Belgium
On 23 April 2004, Umicore signed a covenant with the regional waste authorities (OVAM) and the Regional Minister of the Environment in the Flemish Region of Belgium by which Umicore committed to spend € 62 million in the next 15 years to remediate the historical pollution at four sites and some surrounding residential areas.
In Hoboken the remediation of the nearby residential area of Moretusburg was completed. The contaminated top layer of the soil in some 700 gardens was excavated and will be safely stored as part of an on-site barrier to help reduce noise hindrance. The gardens were relaid and the interior of all houses were cleared of dust. Preparatory work was started in Hertogvelden, another nearby residential area where the remediation is scheduled to commence in 2008.
In Olen, the on-site groundwater remediation was started. Major progress was achieved in the excavation of the sediments in the Bankloop brook.
In 1985-1986, the site in Olen built a state-of-the-art facility to ensure the long term storage of a number of radioactive waste materials. The storage facility was authorised as a temporary one until a long-term solution could be validated by the Belgian Government.
ONDRAF/NIRAS (“the Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials”) is required to draft a report to the Federal Government every five years on the long-term management of “the nuclear legacy”. The 2008 report will, for the first time, detail the materials that are stored at Olen. During the drafting phase, various options were discussed between ONDRAF/NIRAS and Umicore. In line with these discussions, the Group decided to provision a total of € 17 million for the future monitoring and maintenance of the storage area. Umicore indicated its willingness to externalise these provisions.
In the context of the 2004 covenant with OVAM and the Flemish Region, a joint fund of € 30 million (half of which was contributed by Umicore, the other half by the regional authorities) was created to address historical contamination in a 9 km radius around the four operational plants of Balen, Overpelt, Hoboken and Olen. Highlights include the removal of zinc ashes from private driveways in Lommel-Werkplaatsen; a biological monitoring programme run by the Flemish authorities to verify the residual exposure of the local population to cadmium and arsenic, the results of which are expected in 2008. Furthermore, the removal of zinc ashes was extended to the entire area covered by the covenant.
Umicore's former zinc smelting activities
In September 2007, the Belgian sites of Balen and Overpelt, and Auby (France) were transferred to Nyrstar, including all remaining obligations to remediate the historical pollution at and around the sites. Prior to transfer, the excavation of contaminated soil was completed in Overpelt while some 80% of the remediation efforts at the Balen site have now been completed. Furthermore, the preliminary proposals for groundwater remediation were drafted and filed with the competent authorities. The adjacent residential areas were also cleaned up. In Auby, major sections of the operating plant, a public park and a schoolyard were remediated.
Walloon Region of Belgium
Soil remediation at Angleur was completed and it is awaiting final clearance from the Regional Government. The site is currently monitoring the quality of the groundwater. Umicore is in talks with a regional institution on the necessary remedial actions and the future development of the site in Grâce-Hollogne (a former thermal zinc treatment plant which was closed in 1982).
France
In Viviez, Umicore completed the voluntary remediation of Laubarède which was used in the past to store concentrates and waste. It will host the regional emergency centre. Approximately 10,000 m³ of contaminated soil were excavated and safely stored. The remediation of Laubarède is only a small portion of the overall programme for Viviez that is to be executed between 2009 and 2012.
The site in Calais was shut down in 2006: the demolition of the industrial installations and the removal of contaminated soil were well advanced in 2007. The completion is scheduled for the first half of 2008. The entire site (17 ha) will also be covered with clean soil which would make the land available for new industrial development.
Germany
Umicore and its legal predecessors have a long history of mining in Germany, which ended with the closure of the Lüderich zinc mine near Cologne in 1978. A number of underground mining concessions are still in Umicore’s possession. The collapse of shafts and tunnels of mining areas which are no longer in use can sometimes lead to subsidence at the surface. In 2007, this was the case at three sites which were successfully repaired by Umicore. Drainage water from surface properties linked to these former mining activities may contain higher concentrations of metals that sometimes require treatment.
Other regions
Upon closure of the site in Roodepoort South Africa, in 2006, Umicore initiated an extensive soil and groundwater remediation programme: 20,000 tonnes of contaminated soil were excavated and disposed of. The assessment of potential groundwater contamination is still underway.
At Umicore’s zinc plant in Shanghai (China), contaminated soil was excavated and disposed of at an authorised landfill. Umicore continues to treat groundwater at a former mining site in Colorado (USA).
Umicore on the way to sustainability