Molson Equips Soil Hospital

April 21, 2020

A range of equipment supplied by Molson Group is playing a pivotal role in a housebuilding development that requires the reprocessing and remediation of around 60 hectares of former landfill in Sussex.

Ahead of a multi-million pound project that will see the construction of more than 2,500 much-needed family homes, West Midlands-based Dunton Environmental is carrying out an extensive seven-year landfill reprocessing and remediation programme at Kilnwood Vale near Crawley, West Sussex. And a range of machinery supplied by multi-faceted equipment importer and distributor Molson is playing a key role in the process.

Soil Hospital

To most people, a former landfill site is a blot on the landscape; a no-go zone filled with potentially toxic and hazardous materials that leach gas and contaminate ground water. To Dunton Environmental, however, a former landfill site is an opportunity; a brownfield site longing to become green. The company utilises a variety of scientific methods to treat former landfill waste and contaminated soils including heavy metal remediation and bioremediation. Much of this treatment takes place off site in facilities Dunton describes as “soil hospitals”. “We bring soils back to life,” explains Dunton Environmental’s general director Tony Sadla.

At Kilnwood Vale, a massive 60 hectare site acquired by Crest Nicholson and now divided amongst a number of premier UK housebuilders, the company is dealing with something far less noxious and hazardous. Dunton Environmental first arrived on the site in 2015 and, aside from a short break of around seven months, has been there ever since. There is still another three years of the contract left to run.

“The landfill site was largely inert,” explains Dunton Environmental associate director Sean Deloughery. “There was no household waste. It is made up primarily of construction and demolition waste but we are coming across timber, plastics, pockets of clay and the occasional car part or two.”

The task facing Dunton Environmental is primarily one of segregation. The company is using a range of excavators – including a Kobelco SK270SRLC-5 and a pair of Kobelco SK210H LC-10 Hybrid units – to dig down into the landfilled waste. Rubble, metals, plastics and timer are then separated prior to further processing offsite. Meanwhile, a membrane is installed to mitigate and control the escape of gases. This is then capped with high quality cleaned topsoil before house construction can begin.

Sales and Service

Although Dunton Environmental runs a mixed equipment fleet – including a recently-acquired a pair of Ammann ASC130 single drum rollers – it is notable that the company takes a good deal of its equipment from Bristol-based Molson Equipment. “We like dealing with Molson because their broad range of equipment covers virtually all our needs including both regular and Hybrid excavators and our Terex Finlay 595 heavy duty screener,” explains Sean Deloughery. “But the primary reason we continue to choose Molson is the strength and responsiveness of their aftersales service. With some of our other suppliers, it can be difficult to get an engineer on site the same week. But Molson just seems willing and able to respond almost immediately. I made a call to them recently at 1pm. By 3.30 pm the same day, there was a Molson engineer on site rectifying the problem.”