After the start of the detailed engineering for the last stage of the Las Salinas land reclamation project, Stephanie Rotella, Environmental Manager, talked about this process with Radio Portales de Valparaíso. He also commented on the importance of having leading experts such as Séché Group, IDOM and academics from universities in the region.
Detailed field engineering
“We started working with Séché Group on the detailed engineering. A company with more than 35 years of experience in soil management around the world implementing great technology. They join the work team of experts from the Valparaiso Region and the Spanish company IDOM. This stage consists of a series of technical details that involve the tasks to be implemented in the last stage of remediation, which already has all the environmental approvals”.
About Séché Group
“It is key to have an ally like Séché Group, which has great experience worldwide. We must think that in Chile there is little experience in bioremediation, especially in soil decontamination, but it is a technique that is widely used elsewhere. So having experts in the field is very relevant for Las Salinas”.
Bioremediation
“Bioremediation is a nature-based technique that takes advantage of the microorganisms present in the soil that have the ability to degrade the remaining contaminants in the soil. These are already accustomed to living in this area and are basically given the necessary water and air inputs to accelerate the process. We take advantage of the capabilities that these microorganisms already have”.
Sanitation stages
“We hope to begin the work during the second half of the year, which will be divided into two stages: north and south. Each stage will last two and a half years and we hope that after this process this land can be returned to the city of Viña del Mar after such a long pause”.
Activities with the communities
“We are promoting two initiatives that have worked very well with our neighbors. The first is “Las Salinas on the ground” where we go to neighborhood councils, universities, schools and others to talk about what we are working on. Another initiative is “Las Salinas Open Doors”, where on the last Thursday of each month we welcome, with prior registration, those who wish to learn about the sanitation process, our urban vision and the work of our Plant Laboratory, among other topics.
