It's an ill wind
15 Jan 2000
Increasing development of industrial sites and the effects of wars in Eastern Europe are fuelling a 30 per cent rise in the market for cleaning contaminated soil and water, according to a report by market researchers McIlvaine. It says that the remediation business will be worth just under $9billion by 2002, from $6.9billion in 1997.
The conflicts in Eastern Europe have caused further contamination and delayed scheduled clean-ups, says McIlvaine, so `even as the market grows, the potential is growing faster. In the same region, Hungary has around 10,000 sites needing cleanup, of which 2000 are chemically contaminated. Poland has 3000 gas station sites needing remediation. These countries, along with the Czech Republic, must improve their environmental profiles if they are to enter the European Union.
