The dredging of sediment which accumulates in harbours generates between 25 and 40 million tons of uncontaminated material which is dumped at sea every year. This leaves a significant quantity of around 10 million tons of contaminated sediment generally located in the basins of commercial ports and marinas which have not been dredged since they were first created or where dredging operations have been suspended due to recent changes in regulations. In order to ensure the safety of shipping in these ports, it is essential that this accumulated sediment be dredged within the next ten years, which in some instances raises the difficult issue of how to dispose of it.

Port management authorities are therefore now considering land-based solutions for dealing with these materials. Various types of processing have been tested on an industrial scale – physicochemical, biological, etc. – in particular as part of the recent SEDIMARD Programme carried out on the “real-life conditions” experimental platform at Toulon.

The question arising is whether this type of sediment could be used as infill for sites on land such as former quarries and, similarly, whether it might be possible to restore the natural vegetation and wildlife to such sites without any long-term risks either to people, the environment or especially ground water. SEDIGEST, standing for GESTion durable des SEDIments des ports (Sustainable management of harbour sediment), aims to answer these questions and in so doing will begin by developing a specific ecological risk assessment (ERA) approach based on an ambitious research programme focusing in particular on the way marine sediment behaves on land. Two local authorities, the départements of Finistère and Var, are project partners.

Co-recognised by the Pôle Mer Bretagne and Pôle PACA, SEDIGEST has secured funding from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency) as one of the approved projects for its PRECODD Programme (Programme Ecotechnologies et Développement Durable – Eco-technologies and Sustainable Development Programme).

SEDIGEST PROJECT PARTNERS

Research centres: 

• Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'Etat (French Advanced Institute for Public Works), Vaux-en Velin, Environmental Sciences Lab, project director,
• Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (Lyon National Institute of Applied Sciences), Civil and Environmental Engineering Lab,
• Bureau de Recherche Géologique et Minière (Mining and Geological Research Bureau), Orléans, Environment and Processes Division/ Polluted Sites and Soils Unit,
• Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks), Verneuil en Halatte,
• CETMEF (French Centre for Maritime Waterways and Research), Brest, Coastal Environment and Waterways Department/Marine and Coastal Environment Division.

Companies:

• INVIVO Environnement, La Forêt Fouesnant,
• INSAVALOR, Villeurbanne, GIS for Environmental Assessment of Polluted Waste, Materials and Soils and POLDEN (Pollution, Waste and Environment) Research Bureau.

Local authorities:

• Var departmental council,
• Finistère departmental council

Contact : marie-marguerite.bourbigot@pole-mer-bretagne.com