Reed Bed Refurbishment Waste Disposal (PIN)

Descriptions

Purpose The Coal Authority (CA) operate 166 individual reed beds providing treatment capacity at over 62 mine water treatment sites. The purpose of the mine water treatment sites is to remove iron that has been mobilised from old mine workings into groundwater. These mine water treatment sites operate by enabling oxidation of the iron, which is then precipitated as iron hydroxide (ochre) and settled in settlement ponds. The effluent from the settlement ponds is then passed through reed beds to polish the water before discharge to local water courses under discharge consents. The reed beds are planted with a variety of wetland plants that act primarily as filters to remove any remaining ochre from the water before it is discharged. Over time there is a build-up of ochre within the settlement ponds and biomass from reed growth together with the ochre and any wind-blown dust that is captured within the reed bed. For the reed beds and settlement ponds to operate correctly the available headroom for the water levels have to be maintained within an acceptable range. So an amount of this build up has to be removed periodically and disposed of through an environmentally sustainable route. Detail To achieve the removal of the build-up within the reed beds and settlement ponds, we require a competent and experienced contractor(s) to provide an environmentally sustainable disposable route for the reed bed and settlement ponds material. There are three specific areas the Coal Authority are looking at. i)Reed bed material disposal. ii)Dried ochre disposal. iii)Dried ochre bagging and storage management. The contractor(s) will need to demonstrate their ability to dispose of the material complying with the permits required for disposal and their expertise in finding environmentally friendly disposal routes i.e. not landfill Permit required: Bespoke mobile plant permit for land spreading using EWC 19 13 06 Factors to consider if looking to obtain permit •Current workload and availability of the EA. •The information provided by the contractor. •Relationship the contractor has with the EA. •Availability of technical information required for the permit application. At this stage we are engaging with the market to ascertain interest and insight for the following scenarios. 1.We have the permits and are interested in bidding 2.We do not have the permits but are willing to obtain the permit(s) and bid Please register your response & interest to AdamBeckett@coal.gov.uk Estimated value of the contract i)Reed bed material disposal : £8.92m ii)Ochre bagging, management and transfer: £320k Estimated length of contract: 4 years Location The Coal Authority operates sites within Scotland, England and Wales in a wide variety of settings across former collieries in and around urban areas across the mining regions of the UK.