Soil remediation expert

For a few decades now, people have understood that soil and groundwater are also scarce resources. Sustainable management of soil and groundwater, therefore, is essential. The increasing awareness of the importance of clean soil came about, on the one hand, following a number of waste-dumping scandals in the 1980s, which involved people being exposed to toxic substances. On the other hand, it is due to the ever-increasing need for available land. Instead of developing greenfield sites, the push to reuse historically polluted brownfield locations has increased.

A number of densely populated regions, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, have been building up a legislative framework on soil and groundwater over several decades. In many cases, this has been based on the following objectives:

  • Identify the risks of historical soil contamination owing to more than 100 years’ industrial activity
  • Evaluate these risks for people and the environment
  • Prevent additional soil contamination

Assisting clients with soil contamination

Witteveen+Bos is a certified soil remediation expert for the regions of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and Luxemburg. We have built up extensive expertise in this domain. Our main objective is to unburden our customers of all their soil problems. We do this by guiding them through the entire process:

  • On the basis of an exploratory soil investigation, we determine the extent of the contamination
  • We evaluate the human and ecological risks associated with the soil contamination and check whether active soil or groundwater remediation is necessary
  • We also design remediation projects and coordinate the subsequent remediation works

Our domains of expertise

Since 1995 we have been active throughout Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden,…. This has included work in both the private and (semi-)public sectors. From this perspective, we can offer our customers an extensive range of services:

  • Exploratory soil investigations
  • Earthmoving studies of soil and sediments (technical report)
  • Characterisation studies
  • Risk modelling
  • Feasibility tests and pilot remediations
  • Design, coordination and supervision of remediation works
  • Geohydrological studies and groundwater modelling
  • Due diligence audits, phase I environmental site assessment
  • Legal assistance, such as innocent owner status and liability questions
  • Brownfield development
  • High-resolution site characterisation by EnISSA
  • Emerging contaminants

Our quality standards

Witteveen+Bos is an active board member of the Belgian Association of Certified Soil Remediation Experts (www.vebvzw.be) and works fully in accordance with the VEB quality standard and code of ethics. Our own field team also complies with the Dutch SIKB 2000 and 2100 protocols and is VCA-certified.

Themes

Are you looking for a partner in soil investigation?

Samuel Van Herreweghe

PMC manager Soil and Groundwater