As part of our work decommissioning the historic tar tank at this former gasworks site, odour management has been a key focus for us. The tank is approximately 35m in diameter and is still holding product in it from when the gasworks where operational. The product in the tank is coal tar which has a significant odour – worsened by the fact it has been left untreated for a long time. Our client, St William Homes, had previously highlighted this as a key risk for this project due to the expectation of significant odour during demolition and the proximity of residents surrounding the site.

To combat the issue of odour management, Cognition have purchased, built, and installed an 18 x 55m tent over around half of the historic tar tank. The tent has been installed to effectively “trap” the odours generated from the demolition works. We have installed an air scrubbing unit in the tent, which involves two fans at the back of the tent forcing fresh air into the tent from outside. On the opposite side of the tent, we have large fans drawing the air through a carbon filter system and then venting it out of the tent through ducts. Any air passing through the system is cleared of odour and any harmful compounds.

We have deemed working in the tent a ‘confined space’ due to the potentially harmful compounds that could be released. For the health, safety and well-being of the site team and the wider community, we have put in place additional health and safety protocols surrounding the running of the tent. All operators are in machines fitted with specialised filters, must wear face masks fitted with carbon filters, and are equipped with monitors that generate constant readings on gasses and VOC’s. The operatives feed these readings back to the supervisor once an hour to ensure they are working within safe parameters. We are also continuously monitoring the general tent environment with live VOC monitors.

Completion of the tar tank decommissioning will enable full basement excavation at King’s Road Park. A massive thank you to all the team at Fulham for their hard work and dedication in delivering this complex project – watch this space for further updates!