Final remediation works for Widnes regeneration site

CHEMICALS giant Bayer CropScience has entered the final phase of a major project to decommission and clear its vast 40-acre site at Gorsey Lane in Widnes, which will be used in the regeneration of the Widnes Waterfront.

The site was bought by the Northwest Regional Development Agency on behalf of Halton Borough Council in May, as it is seen as a key location in the redevelopment of Widnes Waterfront.

It paid £6.1m for the land and remedial work to the site, which is situated off Gorsey Lane, near to the site of the proposed new Mersey Gateway bridge. It was one of the largest parcels of commercial land to go on sale in the borough for over 10 years.

Having announced closure in 2007, Bayer ceased production at the Gorsey Lane site in April 2009, as part of a restructuring programme.

But the two-phase closure and clearance of the site, which once employed more than 100 people, actually began in April 2008, with the 22-week decommissioning, dismantling and demolition of the Prochloraz (PZ) plant.

Engineering consultancy RVA Group planned the works so that Bayer was able to continue operating the other half of the site – its Ethofumesate  (EF) plant – while the PZ plant was being demolished.

Now extensive decontamination of the EF plant itself is coming to a close, with contractor EDS entering the final dismantling phase before the entire site is finally cleared, with Bayer due to vacate the site by March 2011.

As part of the works programme, RVA has stipulated that the dismantling contractor carefully retrieve high-value process plant pressure vessels, weighing up to 10 tonnes. This equipment will be re-installed at Bayer’s Norwich site.

Ian Wharton, RVA operations director, said: “Clearance of sites like Widnes are without doubt complex and potentially hazardous undertakings that demand strong and continual communication between our team, the dismantling contractor and the client company.”