Shortlisted as one of the best Environmental & Sustainability projects in the UK Rail Awards 2018, this site is located in the south of England at a train care depot, where trains have been stored, repaired, cleaned and refuelled for over 20 years. A large number of fuel spill incidents (both historic and recent) have occurred over the years, centred on a fuel filling point.

Site investigations have revealed that these spillages have caused an area of the site to become highly contaminated. This includes the existence of a layer of fuel (Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL)), floating on top of the groundwater. This LNAPL was up to 2m thick in the source area, with an associated plume of dissolved petroleum hydrocarbon contamination migrating under the adjacent railway station towards residential properties offsite.

Further plume delineation and detailed quantitative risk assessment (DQRA), showed that the contamination presented a risk to offsite receptors and a potential liability to the site owner, making voluntary remediation advisable.