Remediation of soil contaminated with persistent organic pollutants in Sumgait, Azerbaijan

Abstract

The Sumgait remediation project was implemented in 2015 as a partnership between Blacksmith Institute and the site owner Azerikimya Joint Stock Company (Azerikimya) in Sumgait City, Azerbaijan Republic, about 30 km northwest of Baku. The project was financed by European Commission and supported by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) and Sumgait Municipality. The site is a place on the Caspian Sea coast that was formerly an industrial area highly contaminated with various pollutants and particularly benzo(a)pyrene, benzene, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). As part of initial environmental assessment the project team took soil samples at 19 locations at the surface and at the depth of 0.5 m. The maximum topsoil benzo(a)pyrene concentration was 76.21 mg/kg, benzene-121.5 mg/kg, and PCBs-121.02 mg/kg. The remediation project involved the removal of 804 m 3 of contaminated soil, and disposal of the contaminated soil at the MENR Hazardous Waste Polyqon (landfill). A comparison of pre-and post-excavation sampling shows that average contaminant levels in soils in the upper 0.5 m were reduced by an average of 97 percent. These actions were followed by bioremediation activities. More than 13,000 m 3 of clean soil and organic fertilizer were placed and leveled over an area of two hectares. Approximately 1,200 locally grown native tree species were planted, and a drip-irrigation system was installed. The area is now a park close to the beach.

Toxic Site Identification Program in Azerbaijan

“…For example, Azerbaijan's National Implementation Plan (NIP) 2007-2020 under the Stockholm Convention did not produce considerable improvements in accurately identifying and managing POPs pollution, as well as reduction of the toxic pollution (NIP 2007). While some small-scale remediation projects had proved to be successful (Sharov et al 2019), the TSIP assessments conducted within the remediated sites, confirmed that there were no notable reductions in concentrations of the identified pollutants. These areas mainly included remediated oil polluted places in Bail, a suburb outside of Baku, industrial areas of Sumgait and legacy DDT sites in the rural regions.…”

“…Estimations and inventories confirmed during the Soviet period, that~25,000 tons of DDT pesticide were used in Azerbaijan yearly (Aliyeva et al 2013), which lead to large scale, and unmanageable toxic pollution in the country (Sharov et al 2016;Swartz et al 2003). The remaining polluted sites, from the Soviet period, have been found in nearly all parts of Azerbaijan, which include both large and small pollution hotpots (Sharov et al 2016(Sharov et al , 2019.…”