Glasgow City Council plans to add to its green credentials by using a soil treatment centre (STC) when preparing and developing the commonwealth Games Athletes' Village site at Dalmarnock.

The STC concept transforms what would have been waste soils into usable construction material therefore significantly reducing the need for 'clean' material and lowering the cost of transportation and disposal of waste to landfill.

STC's are not a new idea, they have been established for a number of years on the continent and in the US and Canada, but Glasgow City Council will be the first local authority in Scotland to use such a process.

Soil treatment centres employ several different 'cleaning' processes within a self contained temporary facility without intrusive noise or smells. The contaminated soil is dug up and taken to the STC for treatment. How the soil is dealt with depends on what contaminants might be held within it. This could include anything from the land’s industrial past such as heavy metals, nickel, chrome or fuel.

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Treated materials are then reused for landscaping, fill material or aggregate, which negates the need to buy in and transport expensive 'clean' construction material. Alternatively the treated materials can be sold on the open market.

In addition to the Athletes' Village and the National Indoor Sports Arena (NISA) there are other projects in the east end that will need substantial soil materials including Clyde Gateway, M74 completion and east end regeneration route so there will be no shortage of uses for the clean material.

The site for the STC has yet to be decided but will be located either near the Commonwealth Games Athletes' Village site or actually within the construction site.

Currently the Council has appointed consultants to carry out a detailed ground investigation and ecological study on derelict land earmarked for the Athletes' Village development, parts of which is suspected to have been damaged by previous industrial use.

Following these investigations, a remediation strategy will be drawn up and specialist contractors appointed to operate the soil treatment centre on behalf of the Council.

Councillor George Ryan, Executive Member for Development and Regeneration, said: "As landfill capacities diminish and the Government, and indeed the Council, sets strict environmental targets we need to come up with a sustainable way of dealing with waste materials while progressing our regeneration and Commonwealth Games plans.

"We see real benefits in using this innovative new technology to minimise impact on the environment and reduce construction costs."

The Council is currently assessing developers' bids for the Athletes' Village before a short list of prospective partners is drawn up in the autumn and the preferred developer identified in summer 2009.

(GK/JM)