landpollution

In 2008, a wildlife sanctuary in Singapore had to be demolished after toxic hydrocarbons and other chemicals were found in the earth.

1.5 hectares of land had to be cleaned at a cost of SGD$23 million.

Prevention is better than cure.

landpollution

We provide Environmental Site Assessments or Environmental Baseline Studies to help our clients understand potential issues when developing or acquiring a new site.

Our experienced team of geologists and hydro-geologists are on hand to guide you through any complications and ensure compliance.

Why conduct these studies?

Simply put, conducting an Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) or Environmental Base Study (EBS) is performing due diligence. Prior to developing or acquiring a new site, you need to be aware of any potential environmental liabilities and ensure that the proposed project complies with local legal and regulatory requirements.

We conduct Environmental Site Assessments in three phases:

Phase 1 :

This involves a site audit and document review. Our assessor will look for any signs of chemical release, unusual odors, and emissions. Observations regarding effluent discharge, drainage, storage of toxic or hazardous chemicals, the state of housekeeping, stressed vegetation, operational layout, storage of goods, and solid waste handling systems will be noted. Other issues pertaining to noise and fugitive emissions of dust and vapor will be reviewed as well during the audit.

Phase 2 :

During the site assessment, we will identify chemical-of-concerns and develop sampling strategies to address these COCs. Results obtained will be compared with internationally recognized standards (Dutch, ESEPA, New Zealand, etc). Site Specific Values may be developed for certain scenarios, such as to understand dermal, ingestion, and inhalation risk of workers at the construction site.

Phase 3 :

Depending on the Phase 2 results, site remediation may be necessary, with the aim of reducing risks to environmental and human receptors to acceptable levels.

EBSBorehole

Why SECS?

Our strength lies in our people.

We have an in-house team specialized in performing Environmental Site Assessments and Environmental Baseline Studies.

We deploy different soil sampling techniques to obtain quality samples during the ESA/EBS. These include hand augering, dry rotary drilling techniques, and other specialised drilling techniques for proper well installations for groundwater and gas samples. We also perform gas measurements using state of the art instruments for temperature, flow rates, volatile organic content, landfill gas such as methane, carbon dioxide, LEL etc in boreholes.

Our consultants also have decades of experience in conducting Phase 1 and 2 ESAs. Our environmental director, Donald Folkoff, has over 40 years of geological and environmental engineering experience. He has also performed over 700 Phase II site assessments, as well as over 40 soil and groundwater risk assessments for contaminated properties in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Industry Insight - Contaminated Land in Singapore

Read more about EBS and ESA within the context of Singapore, and the role of standards and guidelines in the conduct of such studies.

After the jump – excerpts from Donald’s presentation on contaminated land and EBS given at a PICE seminar.

SECS is an nea approved consultant in conducting site assessment studies and remediation of contaminated sites

 Please refer to NEA’s website for SECS’s listing