Analyse this!

Nicola Beech visits contaminated land analysis experts Envirolab on the eve of the grand opening of its new inorganics laboratory

AS BROWNFIELD sites continue to gain momentum as the sustainable solution for development, laboratories have experienced a sharp increase in demand for contaminated land testing.

According to the National Land Use Database of Previously Developed Land, England alone has 26,510 hectares of previously used land (43% of the total) suitable for build. Given that making contaminated land habitable is so dependent on developer confidence, many questions need to be asked – is it cost effective? Is it sustainable? Is it safe? This puts a premium on high-tech, quick-turnaround testing.

Hyde-based Envirolab, is one of the many laboratories dotted across the UK working all out to provide certitude in this notoriously complex analytical field.

Already one of the most qualified and comprehensive companies of its kind, it is currently in the process of adapting to existing client demands and pre-empting the eventual recovery of the moribund housing industry by augmenting its organics laboratory with an inorganics wing.

“The inorganics lab has been in planning for about 18 months,” says Envirolab director John Gustafson, who is heading up the new venture with the support of a five-man team.

His appointment last May was something of a coup for Envirolab. With over 20 years’ experience of contaminated land analysis at some of the industry’s most prestigious laboratories (including Severn Trent Laboratories and TES Bretby), and having transformed the fortunes of Regen-IQ by developing its contaminated land division from scratch, he seems the perfect candidate to take Envirolab into uncharted territory.

“We are opening our doors in June, which is slightly later than planned but we have achieved a great deal considering the time frame.”
 
Gustafson offers to take me on a tour of the new laboratory, which is located across the yard from Envirolab’s existing offices in a 500m2 former warehouse. The smell of fresh paint hits you as you enter; around me workmen are putting the finishing touches to the benches and cupboards. Our first stop is the sample reception.

“This is where all new samples are brought to get checked, sorted and labelled,” Gustafson announces. The samples are delivered in cool boxes, which are then divided into the different soil types. By sorting the samples accurately early on, life is made a lot easier.”

Every sample is different, and variables like soil type (from straightforward loams to complex clays) and stone percentage, as well as a vast array of complex issues related to contamination, merit forensic consideration. Soil testing is governed by the Environment Agency’s Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCerts), with each sample requiring a different approach.
 
“The presence of high levels of industrial by-products such as oil, cyanide and asbestos have to be established before testing begins,” Gustafson says.

“Asbestos can be difficult to spot, but its presence affects the test you run. An oily sample could contaminate expensive equipment so its fundamental oil is recognised.”

We walk past the drying room (where the soil ovens and crushing equipment are located) into the main laboratory. A cavernous open space, it will become the nerve centre of the entire building.

“We have invested in some very expensive kit and will have the capability to test for all the common inorganic contaminants,” Gustafson claims.

Apparently, Envirolab can now handle all its clients’ testing needs in-house, bar rarities like pesticides that may occur in 1 in 50 samples and, as such, do not warrant investment in testing equipment. We enter a side room rammed with expensive looking kit.
 
“This is a Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICPMS),” Gustafson offers. “It is used to analyse toxic metals in acid digests of soil samples and also water samples. It works by spraying the sample as a mist into Argon plasma (this is Argon gas, excited to high energy by an intense magnetic field) which is at about the same temperature of the sun (~ 6000°C).

The high temperatures break the metals down into charged ions, which are then focussed on a mass spectrometer, which can distinguish between metals. The data is then picked up by a detector, the signal produced being proportional to the concentration of each metal in a sample.”

Peeping into the machine (from a distance) I see a bright, miniscule sun-shaped sphere secured behind a lot of glass. Closing the door behind him, Gustafson leads me back to the office.

Envirolab was formed in 2001 after RSK Environment sold a minority stake to American company ENSR (now AECOM Environment) and took over its UK-based, mainly geosciences-focused operation (ENSR International), which included a laboratory. Once the deal had gone through, a decision was made to rebrand the laboratory into a stand-alone business.

During Envirolab’s formative period, it focused on testing for dioxins (carcinogenic organic compounds) in substances such as animal feed and human food products, a service that necessitated the introduction of some serious expertise and dedication. Since then, the company’s desire for excellence has not wavered.

“Envirolab is not a conveyor-belt laboratory fixated on churning out digit

Envirolab has shown it is not afraid of innovative adaptation to suit clients’ needs, but you can’t please everyone. Can you?”

s,” explains managing director Claire Knighton, who joined the laboratory 15 years ago and is one of the founders of the Envirolab brand.
 
“We focus on quality, accuracy and unrivalled client liaison to ensure our customers get the best possible service.”

Alongside its testing portfolio, the company stands out by employing some of the most highly qualified staff in the industry, as well as operating an in-house courier, supplying clients with cool boxes, bottles and jars free of charge. While the company is an industry top performer, it is still seems bold to expand so dramatically at a time of widespread economic crisis, especially in the housing industry, which is constitutes a large chunk of the UK contaminated land business. John doesn’t think so.

“There are two principle reasons why this investment makes good business sense; firstly Envirolab’s clients spent over £700,000 in inorganics testing last year, all of which we had to subcontract. This can now be kept in-house. Secondly we have high ambitions for Envirolab to generate a wider range of clients; the inorganics lab means we can now offer a full service provision.”

The inorganics laboratory is not the first ambitious move that Envirolab has taken in the interest of company growth and adaptation to client needs. In 2006, it invested £200,000 in new instruments and became one of the few laboratories in the UK to achieve UKAS accredited for Speciated TPH analysis. Then, a year later, it became a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operation.

“Issues had developed with the brand new cutting-edge instruments; this coupled with potential overcrowding in the office, were sometimes creating a difficult atmosphere in the lab. Going 24-hour a day is a relatively unusual step, but it has paid off handsomely. Efficiency went up, staff morale went up, and the instruments are designed to be used continuously; we are really pleased that we took the leap.”

Envirolab has shown it is not afraid of innovative adaptation to suit clients’ needs, but you can’t please everyone. Can you?

“Oh no, we do encounter dissatisfied clients from time to time, this is where our client liaison skills are tested,” Knighton counters.

“We will repeat tests and if the results are the same, we have the scientific expertise and confidence to stand by our data and stick to the facts.”

This is a crucial differentiator for Envirolab. With more laboratories entering the marketplace, it stays a cut above through the expertise of its client-facing staff, which includes chartered chemists and PhD graduates.

“Surprisingly not all labs have as many technical experts in these key roles as we do and often employ non technical administration staff, or sales people with purely commercial backgrounds. Our clients know when they call us whoever answers the phone will be able to assist with their technical query and they will not get passed around.”

Hazardous waste expert Dr Iain Haslock exemplifies Envirolab’s know how; he recently
developed arguably the most comprehensive soil hazardous waste characterisation tool in the contaminated land sector. Cheekily titled ‘Haswaste’, the spreadsheet-based calculator enables the assessment of contaminated soils and their classification as either hazardous or non-hazardous waste, a regulatory requirement for waste producers, and even comes with an in-depth guidance document.

Elsewhere, Envirolab has applied its technical acumen to the twenty-first century, launching the ‘askenvirolab’ email account where clients can email questions and get a response within two hours. “This service has been very well received by our clients – we could be the laboratory Google,” laughs Knighton, stealing a quick glance at her watch.

Sensing my time is up, I bid my farewells; after all, they do have a new laboratory to bring on-line.