Initial situation

The former "Schwarze Pumpe" gas combine in the middle of the Lusatian coal field was East Germany's largest lignite upgrading plant. The lignite upgrading also produced liquid and solid by-products containing tarry residues that were then stored in the 24-hectare Terpe by-product tip and in the 79-hectare Zerre landfill. In Zerre about 420,000 tonnes of these products had been deposited over a six-hectare area, to a depth of 3.2 to 3.5 meters. In Terpe there were approximately 330,000 tonnes of waste products that had to be disposed of.

Approach

Over the period in which work went on, some 100 hazard assessments were made and expert opinions delivered assessing the substances. Once the operation of the landfill had ceased in 1990, the Terpe waste product tip, the Zerre landfill's tar basins, the immediate vicinity, and the groundwater situation were systematically explored. The LMBV immediately implemented hazardlimitation measures, concentrating on profiling and covering the waste product heap, and controlling surface water collection, drainage, and processing.

Result

As a result, to date around 750,000 tonnes of tarry wastes have been properly and ecologically removed and exploited. At the same time, the LMBV has been responsible for continuously ensuring that there is an efficient environmental and waste management of the material and energetic exploitation of the tar-oil solid mixtures. An additional result of the project has been the generation of the specific rehabilitation technology engineering knowledge involved in the removal of old contaminated deposits and the development of emission-limitation measures.