A note published in , highlights the presence in Chile of the international expert Germán Monge, who made two presentations -in Valparaíso and Santiago- showing the experience in industrial soil remediation in the Basque Country and how this experience can be applied in Chile. Visiting Chile, the Technical Director of Contaminated Soils and Sustainable Remediation of the IDOM Group, Germán Monge, presented the work that has been carried out for years in the Basque Country, which has allowed transforming contaminated industrial soils into areas that meet the needs of housing and public spaces. The Spanish expert in soil remediation, Germán Monge, explained that environmental liabilities “are spaces of opportunity because they are not disposable soils, but are transformed into opportunities that can be used to develop jobs, develop cities and return those spaces, in addition to generating economic development”. Monge pointed out that Chile has the main advantages for using bioremediation, which are the availability of space and climate. Unlike countries that are experts in the field, such as Holland, where its rainy climate makes operations difficult, Chile has the perfect conditions to be a pioneer in the region. Along the same lines, he emphasized that the country could become an example for the continent if it advances in this type of technology. “Bioremediation is an environmentally friendly remediation technique, it is a green technology and therefore, it seems to me that it is an excellent opportunity for Chile as a country to be a spearhead in South America in the application of this technology,” he said. For the remediation expert, the Las Salinas site located in Viña del Mar could be transformed into a remediated soil with cutting-edge technology. “All the favorable situations are present: a site to be remediated with preferential affectation by hydrocarbons, an adequate bioremediation technique to solve the problem of soil and groundwater contamination, and a great opportunity to turn the region and its scientific community into pioneers in the application of this technique in Chile”, he explained. These decontamination processes are carried out through bioremediation, which is a scientific concept that explains the natural process carried out by certain microorganisms to recover the quality of contaminated soils. The technique accelerates and enhances this soil remediation process so that it can be used by communities. Basically, they are bacteria that grow naturally in contaminated soil and feed on corrosion, oil and other hydrocarbon-based agents. The importance lies in their ability to restore mineralization to contaminated soil. The type of microorganism will depend on the site and the characteristics of the soil (salt, water, amount of oxygen). According to the National SPPC Cadastre of the Ministry of the Environment, carried out in 2019, in Chile there are about 600 contaminated soils found within cities that cannot be used, but have the potential for remediation and therefore to become available soils for housing and public spaces. One of the pioneering projects in this area was in Punta Arenas, Magallanes Region, but carried out on a smaller scale and outside an urban site, consisting of the remediation of 376 pits containing crude oil.
The bioremediation process used was through biostimulation of microflora present in the soil and also by adding microorganisms capable of degrading hydrocarbons. The result of this technique was positive because it did not alter the soil’s own characteristics, since it is carried out with the same bacteria present in nature. As for how to move forward into the future, Monge pointed out that “first there must be a technological impulse for remediation, to then move on to the search for public-private financing”. Thirdly, he mentioned collaboration with other institutions that help to make this possible and finally the strategic development and updating of regulations in the area. In this context, the expert explained that in the case of Bilbao there was a general agreement to recover the area, clean it up and thus give a boost to the city, which improved the quality of life of its inhabitants and the sustainability of the city. In Europe, 70% of contaminated soils are taken to landfills and 30% are remediated through remediation technologies. If we take this to economic indicators, 18.4 euros per capita in a year are allocated to issues related to environmental liabilities, which is high considering that the European average per capita is 10.7 euros. In Las Salinas, a soil remediation process began in 2008 with the removal of 20 ponds, 19 tons of liquid waste, 40,052 tons of solid waste, 408 tons of pipes, 15,362 m3 of debris and 20,226 m3 of inert material. To date, more than 3,300 sites and soils have been identified with the presence of contaminants, especially those resulting from mining activities in the north and center of the country, and other industrial and manufacturing activities to the south.
