France has engaged the environmental expertise of Jan De Nul Group to clean up the oil-polluted beaches along the Mediterranean Sea.
This week, Envisan, the environmental subsidiary of the dredging and construction company, signed a contract with the French company Le Floch Dépollution for cleaning up the polluted sand using Envisan’s soil treatment center near Toulon.
Le Floch Dépollution has been contracted by the insurance offices of shipping companies to tackle the consequences of marine pollution calamities that have occurred in the departments of the Côte d’Azur and the Var.
In early October, two tankers collided with one another on the Mediterranean Sea, causing a leak in the fuel tanks. Some of the resulting pollution was immediately captured at sea but within a couple of days, the remaining considerable part washed ashore onto the beaches of southern France.
The Prefecture of the Var department was forced to close the beaches to the public, and up until now, oil pollution continues to be washed ashore onto the beaches.
Envisan is awarded the contract to treat all the polluted sand at its soil treatment center near Toulon, where it will be subjected to a physical-chemical washing process. Currently, the treatment of approximately 2,000 tonnes of sand is expected, but as pollution continues to wash ashore, this quantity may still increase.
Presently, Envisan and local environmental authorities are investigating if it is possible to re-use the decontaminated sand to replenish the excavated beaches, leading to a fine example of how Envisan embraces the circular economy.