£100m funding boost for Derbyshire clean-up project

The ambitious project to regenerate one of Western Europe’s most contaminated sites has been given a major boost today (Thursday) after it was awarded £104.5m in government funding.

The remediation of the former Avenue Coking Works in Chesterfield, Derbyshire is to receive the cash via the National Coalfields Programme which is managed by national regeneration agency English Partnerships.

Consultant Jacobs Babtie has been commissioned by the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA), which now owns the site, to develop a reclamation strategy for the 98 hectare development which suffers severe contamination as a result of decades of mining activity and lime, iron and coke production.

Jacobs Babtie’s work will involve masterplanning, decontamination and demolition of the main coking and chemical plant (which is now complete), landscaping and production of a suitable platform and infrastructure for future redevelopment.

A combination of methods is proposed which includes thermal desorption, bio-remediation and soil washing. All 400,000t of contaminated material will now be treated at the Avenue site rather than a substantial proportion having to be transported off-site for disposal.