Syndial: grand opening of the Groundwater Treatment Plant in Priolo

The Groundwater Treatment Plant (GTP) commissioned by Polimeri Europa and Eni Refining & Marketing Division and built by Syndial was opened in Priolo on Saturday 24 September.

The Priolo plant was built following important remediation work, the first of its type in Europe, during which 50,000 tonnes of contaminated soil covering an area of 20,000m2 were dug up and disposed of.  Construction lasted 28 months and the best technologies currently available to ensure health and safety, reliability, operational flexibility and modularity were used.

The plant will remediate site groundwater in order to make it suitable for industrial purposes, in this way consenting optimal use of the water resources available. With a capacity of 600 m3/h, the plant, situated on the Priolo multi-owned site of national interest on which Syndial, Polimeri Europa and Isab Nord operate, is one of the biggest GTPs of the chemical, physical and biological type in Europe.

Through the use of cutting edge technologies, the following goals have been achieved:

• Resolution of environmental criticalities linked to the flow of groundwater upstream of physical containment;
• Reduction of groundwater withdrawals thanks to the reuse of groundwater purified by the GTP.

Completion of this plant is further proof of eni's commitment to the development andoptimisation of the local area by way of sustainable environmental remediation. Indeed, in 2010 alone, overall spending on remediation work was in the order of 300 million euro.