The contaminated site and plant modernisation at the same time, balancing investment with environmental legacy

Client: chemical manufacturer in the paints and coatings sector | 

The situation

Historical site contamination does not have to block a new investment, but it requires precise planning of how remediation proceedings, new permits and the construction timeline can run in parallel without blocking each other. The problem was that the investment site included two historically contaminated areas. Added to this were complex water and waste obligations, and significant business pressure, the investment had to move forward on a fixed timeline.

Our role

We were leading the strategic EIA process for the expansion and modernisation, synchronising the investment timeline with historically contaminated land covered by the waiver from remediation.

The result

The modernisation project was proceeding on schedule despite the complexity of the regulatory environment. The case illustrates one of the most demanding scenarios in environmental practice: when investment time pressure, contamination legacy covered by the waiver from remediation and new regulations must all be managed simultaneously, with no option to pause any of them.

Planning an investment on a historically contaminated site? We can help map out the regulatory pathway.