NOAH is investing 300 million Norwegian kroner in constructing a new dewatering facility on Langøya. This means treatment capacity for inorganic hazardous waste until at least 2030.
The main activity on Langøya involves receiving industrial acids, fly ash from incineration plants, and other inorganic hazardous waste from Norwegian industries. The current process immobilizes heavy metals such as lead and mercury in stable gypsum, ensuring that these metals are stabilized in the gypsum and do not leach out. Gypsum is used as a building material to reconstruct Langøya's topography. 85 percent of Langøya is being restored by NOAH, making it Norway's largest natural restoration project.
With the original solution, Langøya would have been fully filled by 2024. However, the dewatering facility makes it possible to continue operations until 2030, at least.
"The new facility involves squeezing water out of the gypsum. The dry gypsum elements are used to rehabilitate the island above sea level. In contrast, the wet gypsum slurry in the current process has been placed below sea level in craters created by 100 years of limestone mining," says Didrik Stensrud at NOAH, project manager for the dewatering facility.
Swedish company Granitor is responsible for constructing the factory and pipelines, as well as installing all process equipment in the new facility.
"Granitor is a large Swedish company with over 4000 employees. They offer everything from electrical installation and consulting services to the development of new neighborhoods and industrial processes," says Bård Bergan, project engineer at Bluegreen.
"Bluegreen is engaged to prefabricate HDPE pipe spools that will be installed in buildings and pipelines. We will also assist Granitor with welding and assembly on Langøya," he adds.
For the project, we primarily use pipes ranging from D50 mm to D315 mm in size. Installation began in August and will continue until December 2023.
