Repsol YPF

Soil and groundwater management

Conscious of this, Repsol YPF has made a great effort to prevent and avoid its degradation by referring to precaution principles to carry out remedy projects. Proof of this was the approval in 2004 of an environmental corporate regulation, regarding soil and groundwater management, and the guide for the evaluation and recuperation of contaminated sites.

In order to deal with the complexity of the issues relating to soils and groundwater, Repsol YPF has created a specialized environmental engineering unit which provides support to all company business units in matters of prevention and correction of contamination. Its mission is to undertake environmental improvement projects and to provide a specialist consultancy service where needed, whilst also sharing experiences and helping to maintain consistent environmental standards in the different parts of the world.

Listed below are some of the main projects for soil and groundwater protection that were carried out in Spain and Argentina in 2007:

. In the logistics business in Argentina a remediation of groundwater in several areas of the Lujan de Cuyo-Villa Mercedes pipeline is being conducted. The work is divided into 8 sites run by 4 companies that implement remediation methods such as vacuum extraction, pump extraction and combinations of both.

. In marketing activity, active remediation at 121 service stations and 10 gas-oil distribution bases have been implemented. These remediation methods use mainly on-site techniques (without excavation): vacuum, pump, "air sparging" and bioremediation, and in some cases, usually coinciding with remodelling or vacating, with off-site techniques: excavation and proper management of soil and product. They are also carrying out passive remediation by monitored natural attenuation at two service stations where its viability has been proven. 

. There have been environmental diagnoses of land where new plants will be located in the project to extend the Cartagena refinery, Sines and the Fuel Reducing Unit (URF) of Petronor. As a result of these analyses, actions with off-site techniques for Petronor have been carried out, and future off-site actions for Cartagena have been designed. It has been concluded that no action will be needed for the Sines project.

. Within the environmental risk control brought about by the new law on environmental responsibility, studies have begun at the industrial complexes of Tarragona and Petronor, as well as at 5 gas-oil distribution bases. These studies include the development of conceptual models, risk assessment and mitigation measures proposed in order to better manage such risks. Making the most of this work, Repsol YPF will develop a methodology for assessing environmental risks, for future implementation at other sites and other facilities.

 Links of interest:

Case studies / GRI Indicators  

Back