Radon takes centre stage at ground gas conference

The 2009 Ground Gas and VOCs conference held in London this week saw speakers from across the industry discuss a range of key topics.

Headlining the conference was Professor William Angell, Chair of a World Health Organisation International Radon Project (IRP) Working Group. Prof. Angell relayed the latest guidance from the WHO on international radon ‘action levels', risk communication and mitigation methods.

ProTen Services' Managing Director, Martin Freeman, spoke after Prof. Angell, and drew comparisons from the structural waterproofing industry. In a seminar entitled, "Learning the Lessons of History: Shaping the Future of Gas Barriers Without Reinventing the Wheel", Mr Freeman recalled how defective design, inappropriate materials and systems and poor guidance were responsible for significant failures in waterproofing during the 1990s. Examples were then shown of how these same shortcomings are resulting in failures in gas barriers being installed today.

Also speaking at the conference were Simon Talbot of Ground-Gas Solutions, a Company providing state-of-the-art gas monitoring equipment, Peter Grant of Land Science Technologies, who developed the spray-applied Geo-Seal membrane and Ann Barker, Lead Contaminated Land Officer at Bradford Metropolitan District Council, who presented a case study on the challenges faced when dealing with the Manywells Landfill site.

The presentations are available to view on the Brownfield Briefing website.