Soil is an essential resource for Humanity
Among the natural resources on which we depend, along with water and air, soil is among the most precious, since it provides us with exceptionally valuable services. This means that far from being a mere physical support, soil is a source of resources and services which are vital to human beings and ecosystems.
In recent decades, our society has witnessed the gradual, worrying degradation of our ecosystems, whose effects have interfered with the biogeochemical cycles that support the functioning of the biosphere. Numerous human activities have contributed to this scenario, including, among others, burning fossil fuels, emission of pollutants, unsustainable consumption of raw materials and overexploitation of natural resources. This is compromising crucial ecosystem services, with potentially catastrophic results for our society.
Soil is a source of resources and services which are vital to human beings and ecosystems.
Surprisingly, protecting edaphic resources, whose health is inextricably linked to the survival of our species, has often been ignored. In this regard, it should be noted that historically, given the extent of the problem in many countries, particularly highly-developed countries, efforts have focused almost entirely on soil pollution. Since this phenomenon poses a serious threat to human and ecosystem health, it is no surprise that significant resources have been invested in restoring contaminated soil.
However, beyond pollution, there are other threats to the functional integrity of the edaphic ecosystem, such as erosion, sealing, salinisation, compaction, depletion of organic matter and biodiversity or landslides, that must also be considered when the objective is the integral protection of the soil. A global soil protection strategy must address each and every threat having a negative impact on the health of our soil and, consequently, its ability to function.
Soil is a non-renewable natural resource which regenerates far more slowly than it is extracted and the goods and services that it provides are spent. Therefore, sustainable management is the only path to preserving its long-term functionality.
The importance of soil
For decades, the intense industrial activity in the Basque Country had a notable impact on the soil that affected an area of around 16% of the land of the territory. Therefore, in the 1990s, it was deemed necessary to push through a strategy to restore the soil that had been exposed to industrial activity.
The Basque Government passing specific environmental legislation to prevent and correct soil pollution was a significant step forward to restore the affected land, and made this resources one of the priority areas of the environmental policy of the Basque Country.
Consequently, a very important part of the recovered land could be allocated for different types of use.
Accredited entities
The system to accredit entities studying and restoring the soil quality is regulated by Decree 199/2006 of 10 October, by means of which the content and scope of the soil quality studies to be conducted by those entities.
Pursuant to this decree, the entities that so desire and comply with a series of requirements established in the Decree can be accredited in the following spheres of action:
- Designing and implementing of exploratory and/or detailed investigations into the quality of the soil, including, where appropriate, in situ chemical analysis.
- Designing measures to restore the soil quality
- Supervising the implementation of measures to restore soil quality
- Implementing measures to restore soil quality, by means of in situ, on site or off site treatment techniques, except those performed at permanent plants or consisting of controlled excavation and deposits
- Designing and implementing the quality investigations of the remaining soil after adopting restoration measures.
- Designing and implementing measures to control and monitor the soil quality.
- Designing and supervising the implementation of preventive and/or defence measures when they form part of the content of a soil quality declaration.
People interested in conducting a soil investigation, pursuant to Act 1/2005, must contact Basque Government approved entities.
Report on the soil quality status
Operators of potentially polluting activities must submit reports on the soil quality status. This obligation is laid down in two legal precepts:
- Royal Decree 9/2005, of 14 January, establishing the list of potentially polluting activities of the soil and the criteria and standards for the declaration of contaminated land.
- Act 1/2005, of 4 February, to prevent and remedy the soil pollution of the Basque Country
The following must submit preliminary reports on the soil quality status:
- The operators of those potentially polluting activities of the soil (Article 3.1. of Royal Decree 9/2005)
- Companies that produce, handle or store over 10 tons per year of one or more of the substances included in Royal Decree 363/1995
- Individuals and legal entities operating potentially polluting activities of the soil (Article 6 of Act 4/2015)
Soil quality declaration
The reporting procedure of the soil quality starts with filing an application with the Environmental Office of the Basque Government's Ministry of the Environment, Territorial Planning and Housing.
This application must be submitted by the entities or individuals carrying out the actions that generate the obligation to report the soil quality and must be accompanied by the report on the exploratory research and, as applicable of the detailed study conducted by an accredited entity.
The procedure has to be completed within six months of the date on which the application is received and concludes with a ruling from the Basque Government's Environmental policy classified according to the degree of impact and, pursuant to Act 4/2015, based on the following criteria:
- Unaltered soil: that which has endured a potentially polluting activity, but whose quality has not been affected.
- Altered soil: that where concentrations of substances have been identified that exceed the indicative references values, but which are not considered polluted soil as there is no risk to human health or to ecosystems.
- Contaminated soil: that where the chemical characteristics have been altered, caused by humans, and which make it incompatible with the envisaged or current use of that soil because it means a risk to the health or people or to the ecosystems.
The difference between these three categories is mainly established according to the recorded chemical alteration of the soil and the risk that the chemical alteration means for its current or potential use.
The soil quality declaration formality will be required in the following cases:
- The installation or expansion of an activity on land that is or may have been affected by a potentially polluting activity or facility, except for any expansions carried out within the boundaries of the plot occupied by the activity. In those cases, the promoters of the expansion shall characterise the excavated soil and report the results to the environmental authority prior to their management.
- The implementation of earth movement projects on a site that may have been affected by a potentially soil polluting activity or facility and which is currently inactive.
- The winding up of a potentially soil polluting activity or facility. The operator of the activity shall inform the environmental authority, along with a notification of a proposal of action. The deadline for doing so shall be two months from the winding up of the activity.
- The change of use of land affected or has been affected by a potentially polluting activity or facility.
- Identification of substantiated indications of the existence of polluting substances in the soil in concentrations that may mean a risk.
- At the initiative of the individuals or legal entities that are the owners or holders of the land.
Potentially polluted soil entities
We offer an online service to establish where a specific plot is included in the inventory of land with potentially polluting soil activities or facilities envisaged in Act 4/2015, of 25 June, to prevent and remedy soil pollution.
Basque Country 2030 soil protection strategy
In 2022, the Basque Government approved the first Basque Country 2030 Soil Protection Strategy, which comprehensively addresses soil management, moving beyond the traditional approach of working on contaminated soils, where the Basque Country is a benchmark in Europe. It thus becomes a pioneering strategy due to its approach, both in the Basque Country and in Spain. In Europe, only a few states or regions, such as Switzerland, Scotland, Wales, and the Netherlands, have similar comprehensive soil management policies.
La Estrategia, coordinada por el Departamento de Desarrollo Económico, Sostenibilidad y Medio Ambiente del Gobierno Vasco y en la que han tomado parte numerosas entidades, marca el ambicioso objetivo de evitar, a través de la gestión sostenible del suelo, la degradación de este medio en términos netos para mitad de siglo, a la vez que se garantiza su conservación en términos de salud para la biodiversidad y las personas.
El documento asume que las actividades humanas afectan a la calidad del suelo y que el desarrollo social y económico conlleva inevitablemente su utilización. En este contexto, se marcan dos grandes objetivos; por un lado, minimizar su ocupación, a través de la valorización de los suelos ya antropizados, es decir, modificados por la actividad humana y, por otro lado, compensar los efectos del uso de suelo virgen, sin olvidar la necesidad de restaurar los suelos sometidos a procesos de degradación.
Strategic Objectives
1. REDUCE land use. Zero net land degradation by 2050 is accompanied by land use neutrality, thanks to, among other actions, the reuse of unused human-treated land.
2. MANAGE land occupation from a comprehensive perspective. The occupation of virgin or agricultural land is avoided, human-influenced land is reused through new uses or renaturalization, and its effects are offset or mitigated when land occupation is unavoidable.
3. PROTECT soil from harmful impacts. Soil characteristics and vulnerability, along with the services provided by soil ecosystems, are taken into account when implementing new uses and protecting them from threats.
4. RESTORE degraded soils. Degraded soils are, whenever feasible, rehabilitated to restore their proper functions, taking into account their location.
5. IMPROVE awareness and knowledge. Soil is perceived as a valuable and finite resource that requires protection through management and sustainable use by trained professionals and informed citizens.
Context
Between the 1950s and 1980s, two companies located in Bizkaia, Bilbao Chemicals (Barakaldo) and Nexana (Erandio) produced a pesticide called lindane. During its production process, nine parts of a toxic waste called HCH was produced to obtain one part of lindane. Around 100,000 Tm were generated, which led to a complex environmental problem that was difficult to manage.
That waste was transferred to different landfills or, where applicable, was buried in sites near to the production centres, with the following environmental impact.
The first cases of soils polluted by lindane were detected in the 1990s. That clearly showed that the soil was suffering the consequences of a long industrial activity where production had been prioritised at the expense of the environment.
In order to eliminate the environmental impact caused by lindane, the Basque Government designed an action strategy to deal with the most urgent cases, prevent further damage to the soil quality and plan interventions at the sites where the action could wait.
Therefore, three trail-blazing environmental infrastructures to restore polluted soil were constructed in the Basque Country:
- A HCH plant (dismantled once its objective had been met)
- Two waste cells at Loiu and Barakaldo
Cells
A waste cell is a water-tight structure that allows hazardous materials or substances to be stored according to their characteristics and potential hazards.
The main characteristic of a waste cell is that it is built using a system that ensures it is completely watertight.
The Netherlands was one of the first countries of the world where a waste cell was set up for lindane contaminated soil and other toxic waste. In 1988, a waste cell or tank was built to store a total of 150,000 m3 of lindane-contaminated soil generated by Stork Chemische Industrie (located in the Twente region) to be used as pesticide.
In 1984, another waste cell was built in the French region of Hochfelden (Alsace) to temporarily store the soil contaminated by HCH dumped by PCUK.
The Autonomous Community of Aragón opted to waterproof two landfills where 100,000 Tm of HCH, produced by Inquinosa between 1975 and 1989, were deposited.
The Argalario Waste Cell (Barakaldo)
Barakaldo was the municipality where the landfills with the greatest presence of HCH of the Basque Country are located: the Zuloko, Frade, Vega de Galindo, Las Julianas, Largatza landfills and the area occupied by the Bilbao Chemicals factory and Idanor.
Given this situation, Barakaldo Local Council set up the “Lindane Waste Technical Committee” in April 1996.
Ihobe, S.A was tasked with conducting the Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (PEIA) to locate the waste cell in the municipalities of the left bank of the River Nervión and the mining area. This study sought to specify and prioritize the location alternatives for a cell, according to the internationally established criteria.
The choice of Mount Argalario was based on the aforementioned criteria and on there being a municipal solid waste landfill in the same area with over 600,000 m2 of waste generated. The area where the landfill was environmentally located and one of the conditions required when drafting the Project was that it was precisely to first recover the waste landfill.
The project
The Argalario waste cell was built as set out in the “Construction Project of a Waste Cell for HCH-Contaminated Earth and Conditioning the MSW Landfill in Argalario”. Ihobe managed the execution of the works, which began in November 1999 and were completed 3 years later in November 2002.
The Argalario waste cell in figures
| No. sanitised sites | 24 |
|---|---|
| Volume of earth transferred | 416.000 m3 |
| Leachate purification plants | 2 |
| M.W. landfill degasification system | 1 |
| Project implementation dates | 36 meses |
| Subsidy from the European cohesion fund | 80% |
| Total cost | 26,5 M€ |
| No. environmental monitoring control points | 105 |
| No. subcontracts | 8 |
| No. people in the works team | 50 |
| Site Municipality | Excavated volume m3 |
|---|---|
| Portugalete | |
| Rivas Viejo | 8.778 |
| Ballonti Industrial Estate | 2.543 |
| Sestao | |
| Babcock-Wilcox | 5.987 |
| Ortuella | |
| Orkonera Mine | 784 |
| Paraje Concha | 1.092 |
| Galdames Paraje Lazigoti | 3.126 |
| Erandio | |
| Nexana Celamerck | 26.922 |
| Edinasa | 2.604 |
| Abanto y Zierbana | |
| Matilde Quarry | 9.104 |
| Paraje Meaztegi | 2.938 |
| Lemoa | |
| Bazada | 3.444 |
| Karrantza | |
| Paraje Villanueva de Presa | 615 |
| Muskiz | |
| Petronila Mine | 4.906 |
| Barakaldo | |
| Paraje Largatza | 11.956 |
| Idanor-Bilbao Chemicals | 78.788 |
| Las Julianas | 2.352 |
| Frade | 62.530 |
| Vega Galindo | 43.286 |
| Efersa | 30.170 |
| Camino Sirga | 12.432 |
| Zuloko | 54.451 |
| Bilbao Exhibition Centre | 5.306 |
| Erreketa | 37.916 |
| Urban | 4.974 |
