After eight months of background review, field visits and evaluation of the technical proposals, Las Salinas awarded the French company as the main contractor the bid to carry out the remediation of the Paño Sur sector, which is part of the 16-hectare site in Viña del Mar, through bioremediation, a nature-based technique that is widely used worldwide for its effectiveness in terms of results and safety for people and the environment. The French company has more than 35 years of experience in soil remediation, with projects in conditions similar to Las Salinas and presence in 15 countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina and Peru, among others. To date, Séché Group has developed initiatives equivalent to more than 1,200,000 tons remediated through bioremediation. The company’s CEO, Mr. José Luis Rodríguez, emphasized that “this award marks a new milestone in the work and effort of more than 20 years to recover the soils that played a fundamental role in the industrial stage of Viña del Mar. Our environmental and social commitment to the city commits us to continue our efforts to clean up and recover these soils for different uses that mean better opportunities for development with a better quality of life for the entire community. During his visit to the site, he stressed the importance of joining the efforts of Las Salinas to complete the last stage of reclamation, because “we are aware of the efforts made over the years to return the soils that are now in the middle of the city to a usable condition. We have consolidated experience in remediation, which will be the basis for all the work that we will promote with excellence and environmental and social commitment in the coming years from the southern part of the Las Salinas site in Viña del Mar”. In France, the company is leading the remediation of the 11 hectares where an old refinery operated for 70 years in the center of the city of , a high-density urban area close to the waterfront, which in 1944 was even the target of bombing during the Second World War. In 2011, the operations were determined to be shut down and the facility was gradually dismantled. The various local authorities valued the opportunity to recover the land and thus revitalize the city, promote projects and improve the lives of residents who in the coming years will have new spaces available for multiple city uses. Séché Group recently managed the remediation of the 12-hectare site of the recently inaugurated Olympic Aquatic Center on the outskirts of Paris. Formerly a gas factory, the challenge was unprecedented given the location, size, complexity of decontamination and soil treatment, as well as exemplary in terms of the rigor of its environmental monitoring, with a circular economy approach and a determination to limit its carbon footprint. Inaugurated in April, the Olympic Aquatics Center will host some of the events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Following the signing of the contract, detailed engineering will begin on what it will mean to install everything needed to get the bioremediation up and running in the coming months. IDOM will also participate in the work as Project Manager of the project, providing technical advice to Las Salinas throughout the process and field monitoring of the remediation project.
Through its , Las Salinas will continue to communicate with neighbors and promote dialogue through various initiatives that provide information about the history of the site, the previous stages of remediation and the characteristics of the bioremediation technique that will allow its definitive remediation, with a view to generating new opportunities for the integral development of Viña del Mar.
