Soil mitigation market to grow
15 Jan 2000
The market for remediating ground water and soil in Europe will rise from £4.3billion in 1997 to £5.6billion by 2002 according to the conclusions of the McIlvaine Site Remediation report.
Recent conflicts in Eastern Europe have further contaminated soil and groundwater flow and have also delayed implementation of previously scheduled remediation. So even as the market grows, the potential is growing faster.
The study notes a number of factors that are driving the soil mitigation industry: European Union approval of long term plans to clean up rivers, lakes and coastal waters throughout member nations, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development which is increasing its support of environmental projects, and the accession into the European Union of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
As the study reports, Germany has moved from assessment to actual mitigation of contaminated sites. Germany and Spain are the most active developers of existing contaminated sites which can be returned to limited use at low cost. US military bases in Germany are among the first sites to be remediated.
