A landmark has been reached in the restoration of The Avenue, a former coking works and chemical plant in the East Midlands closed in 1992 and once identified as one of the most contaminated sites in Western Europe.
One of the waste lagoons, where the worst contaminants had been stored, has had all pollutants removed by contractors working for the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), and is now being filled with cleaned earth to create an area that will become landscaped public space.
The pollution at the Avenue was particularly bad not only because of the coking works and chemical processes that were undertaken on site for over 40 years but also due to the fact that all the waste material from this and other sites was dumped next to the river Rother.
The clean-up will ensure that the site is returned to the condition it was in in the nineteenth century.
Rob Pearson, Head of Area, at the Homes and Communities said: “This is a very special moment for us because it shows how much we have achieved here with our partners. There is still more work to be done until we can leave the site in a condition suitable to be used for the benefit of local people both as both a recreational facility and to provide new homes and help create jobs for local people.”
Work is also well underway on the other slurry lagoons and the waste tip on the site and the whole area should be cleaned and ready for redevelopment in 2016, marking the culmination of 20 years and an investment of £172 million to guarantee a long term future for what was once one of the worst sites in the UK.