Construction work has been underway since this January near the Paramo production plan in Pardubice on establishment of two redevelopment drains. In terms of redevelopment of old contaminated sites, the drains will be draining off ground water polluted by oil products.
"Installation of the drains and subsequent drainage of old contaminated sites is important from the point of view of minimisation of the risk of migration of oil products in the direction of the flow of ground water," says Milan Kuncíř, Managing Director of Paramo, a.s. "Installation of the required technology is currently underway. Work should be completed in the third quarter of this year and this will then be followed by trial operation of all redevelopment components of the system of hydraulic protection of ground water," adds Milan Kuncíř.
The main complex of the Paramo plant is still awaiting redevelopment work. "Negotiations are currently underway with the Ministry of Finance with regards to release of funds for the redevelopment project in this location," says Milan Kuncíř, Managing Director of Paramo, a.s. The complete documentation required for announcement of the tender was already drawn up in 2007. At the end of last year, the redevelopment project was divided into two stages according to severity of impact on the environment. Work in the first stage will especially relate to the former bed of the Jesenčánky Stream and the former raw material ditch from where the most significant risk of contamination of ground water stems.
Redevelopment work was on the contrary successfully finished in other locations in recent years. Redevelopment was performed in the LIDL location in 2010, when in terms of construction of the supermarket, waste which had been stored here in the 1950s was "flushed out". All of the waste was removed and disposed of in accordance with the valid legislation. Two-year post-redevelopment monitoring is currently underway.
Liquidation of the contaminated site in the Blato location was equally successful, where redevelopment work and biological re-cultivation was performed in 2011. Post-redevelopment monitoring will be ending here this year. For the whole period of the redevelopment work, ground water samples were taken using bores, the quality of which was monitored. All of the analyses confirmed the success of the redevelopment work.
Contaminated sites in Pardubice and surrounding areas were caused by air raids during World War Two and by the state-owned enterprise which did business in this location in the period before privatisation. The means and methods used at that time do not comply with the current environmental protection standards. In terms of liquidation of old environmental damage, it is especially waste and contaminated soil which is taken away, these posing a permanent risk to the quality of ground water. Although redevelopment work is financed to a great extent using funds from the Ministry of Finance, Paramo has spent 63 million crowns for this purpose since 1993.
Responsible business
Paramo registered for the global programme Responsible business in the chemical industry – Responsible Care – in 1998. The Responsible Care programme is a voluntary globally adopted initiative by the chemical industry focused on support for its sustainable development through a proactive increase in the safety of the facilities it operates, transportation of products and improvement of occupational and environmental safety. The programme represents long-term strategy coordinated by the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). The principles of the Responsible Care initiative are complied with in all areas.
PARAMO, a.s. (Joint-stock Company), which belongs to Unipetrol Group from the end of 2000 is a producer of bitumen products, lubricants and process oils, including related and ancillary products. The company also purchases and processes oil hydrogenates and hydrocrackers from Unipetrol RPA Company. It uses the derived intermediate products in the production of base oils and lubricating oils featuring very low sulfur content. The company employs 530 people. More on www.paramo.cz
Contact:
Mikuláš Duda
Press Department Manager, UNIPETROL, a.s.
phone: +420 225 001 407, +420 736 502 520
e-mail: mikulas.duda@unipetrol.cz