The expensive time to think about soil disposal hazard categorisation is when the trucks are already waiting.
By that stage, the soil may already be excavated, stockpiled or mixed. Options that were available earlier may have narrowed. Receiving facilities may need additional information. Extra sampling may delay removal. In some cases, material may be categorised more conservatively than necessary simply because there is not enough good information.
On development sites, soil is often treated first as a construction issue: excavate it, load it, take it away. But once soil leaves the site, it needs to be managed lawfully. That usually means appropriate categorisation, documentation, transport and acceptance by a suitable receiving facility (lawful place).
Early soil categorisation helps answer questions such as:
Can any soil be reused onsite?
What soil needs to be removed?
What disposal category applies?
Are there hotspots or different soil types that should be separated?
What information will the receiving facility need?
A small amount of planning before excavation can avoid a lot of cost and frustration later.
Atma Environmental assists clients to categorise soil to the lowest justifiable disposal category, based on appropriate sampling, laboratory testing, statistical interpretation of results and professional judgement. This is particularly important for basement excavations, bulk earthworks, former industrial land, imported fill, odours, staining or sites with a known or suspected contamination history.
