• Question: What chemical are common in brownfield sites?

    Asked by anon-177601 to Nicola on 20 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Nicola Reid

      Nicola Reid answered on 20 Jun 2018:

      That’s a really interesting question – all sorts!

      It depends on what the site was used for in the past.

      For example if the site was used as a petrol station then you would mostly find what we call hydrocarbons – that being fuels such as petrol and diesel and other oils

      If you were looking at a site that used to make products using metal then you might find all sorts of metals such as zinc, nickel and aluminium.

      Part of our job at the start of a project is trying to work out what chemicals might be in the ground before we do any further work. Its one of my favourite parts of my job.

Comments