Bioremediation of railway track and ballast in Sweden

At a train station Smedjebacken in Sweden, the track was contaminated with a thick layer of oil and grease accumulated over a period of 80 years. Analysis of soil samples showed heavy contamination at a depth ranging from 70 cms to 1 meter or 3 feet. AgroRemed was sprayed over an area of 450 square meters for on-site bioremediation of the chemicals of concern. 4 weeks after application of AgroRemed, samples were drawn from 2 feet below the surface and were sent for analyses. The results showed that all the chemicals of concern were below permitted levels. 55 gallon of AgroRemed was applied only once and the train services were interrupted for only 2 hours during this period.

Smedjebacken Railway Station showing contaminated ballast and tracks

Acknowledgement:”Smedjebackens järnvägsstation” by Calle Eklund/V-wolf – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons