M&P Hamburg: Redevelopment of the former Lübeck freight station

In the course of the land development at the site of the former freight station in Lübeck (approx. 80,000 m²), extensive measures are required for the remediation of individual hot spots and for the further preparation of the site for subsequent commercial and residential use. For the remediation of the individual contaminated sites (gas works, further processing of the gas works residues and handling of operating materials) as well as for dealing with the ethidimuron contamination spread over a large area from the vegetation control of the preceding railway use, the M&P Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg branch, a two-part redevelopment plan was developed together with the Hanseatic City of Lübeck. In coordination with the authorities involved, the measures outlined have been implemented since summer 2020 in order to be able to continue with further land development at the site afterwards.

In the first part, the individual contamination areas were remediated in winter 2020/21. In order to permanently prevent the relevant discharge of pollutants with the groundwater, decontamination was carried out by means of soil exchange. Accordingly, those areas that exceeded the remediation target values previously agreed with the authorities were excavated. The resulting soil was placed in piles or containers, sampled and disposed of according to the degree of contamination. The aim of the remediation is essentially to remove the contaminated sites in order to protect the groundwater and human health with regard to the future use of the area.

With regard to the areal ethidimuron impairment, a landscaping structure is to be built at the southwestern end of the redevelopment area, into which contaminated soils on the redevelopment area will be moved and secured. Further preliminary investigations are currently being carried out for this purpose.