The importance of sulphide binding for leaching of heavy metals from contaminated Norwegian marine sediments treated by stabilization/solidification.

Over time, Norwegian fjords and harbour areas have received contaminants from industrial activities and urban run-off, and measures to remediate contaminated marine sediments are therefore needed. Stabilization/solidification (S/S) technology, in which the contaminated marine sediments are mixed with cement and other binding agents, has been shown to be a promising remediation technology. This paper summarizes a study of the environmental effect of stabilization, highlighting the importance of sulphide binding governing the leaching of heavy metals from the S/S of contaminated marine sediments. The study is a part of a research project focusing on developing effective methods for S/S of contaminated seabed sediments for use in new construction areas. Four cementitious binders were tested on sediments from six different locations: Bergen, Gilhus, Grenland, Hammerfest, Sandvika and Trondheim. The sediments differed with respect to properties such as concentration of contaminants, water content, organic content and grain size distribution. Portland cement, Portland cement with fly ash, industry cement, and sulphate resistant cement, were tested as binders. The leaching from the S/S sediments after 28 days of curing was measured by using a standard leaching batch test (EN 12457-2: 2003), with seawater as leaching agent. The eluate was analysed for pH and redox, as well as content of heavy metals and organic contaminants. Available volatile sulphide (AVS) and simultaneously extractable metals (SEM) were also measured in the sediments. This paper focuses on the leaching of lead (Pb) and copper (Cu). A reduced leaching of Pb after stabilization was observed for the mixtures, whereas the leaching of Cu from Hammerfest sediments increased substantially after stabilization for all cementitious additions. Experiments show that Hammerfest samples had lower values of AVS than the other sediments. This was confirmed by the SEM/AVS analysis, highlighting the importance of sulphide binding for mobility of heavy metals in stabilized marine sediments. For practical application of S/S technology to contaminated sediments, it is important to assess the leachability of the stabilized material taking sediment conditions such as AVS content into account. It is however important to be aware that the mobility of contaminants from a S/S sediment is dependent on a combination of contaminant concentrations and hydraulic conductivity (permeability). When devising S/S procedures for environmental projects, in addition to physical strength, the binder should be optimized in relation to leaching and permeability in order to achieve the lowest transport of contaminants through the material.