VIC Properties to start decontamination of the Matinha soils this August

The first phase of this process involves the decontamination of Plot A. This operation will be completed by February next year.

Lisbon, August 4, 2020. VIC Properties SA (“VIC Properties”) should start this month the process of decontamination of the soils of Matinha, in the parish of Marvila, Lisbon. This operation aims at giving back to the population an area of approximately 20 hectares that had been inaccessible for decades. The completion of the first phase of this process, which involves the decontamination of Plot A, is scheduled for February 2021.

The Matinha Gas Factory started operating in 1944 and was in operation until 1999, the year it was abandoned, and was eventually demolished in 2006. After buying these grounds in 2019, and over the past few months, VIC Properties, in partnership with eGiamb, carried out an intense work to characterize the quality of the soils and groundwater in Plot A of the lands in Matinha, thus being able to locate the main points of research and pollutants.

Between 2002 and 2020, 125 soil surveys were carried out on these lands and 38 piezometers were installed to monitor the quality of groundwater. Hundreds of samples were collected and thousands were collected and analysed in a laboratory. From this work, it was possible to conclude that in Plot A, with a total area of 89,320 m2, about 23 thousand square meters (25.9% of the total) are contaminated.

To remove the pollutants contained in the soil and water, VIC Properties hired the consortium EGEO Pragosa, which will be in charge of the decontamination operation. This process includes several risk management measures, to protect workers and the entire surrounding area. Thus, all the waste that will be removed from Matinha will be transported in dedicated vehicles, always covered and with a pre-washing of the wheelsets, and sent to its final destination. Contaminated water, on the other hand, will be treated in a mobile WWTP, to be installed on-site.

To monitor the whole process, an Environmental Monitoring Committee was also created, joining more than a dozen entities, namely:

Bough by VIC Properties in June last year, the Matinha grounds, in the parish of Marvila, Lisbon, has a deployment area of approximately 20 hectares, with a total of 260,000 m2 of construction area aboveground. Matinha will be one of the largest real estate projects in Portugal, with the building of 2000 new homes planned, as well as several leisure and services infrastructures, which will transform this part of the city into an area of excellence to live, work or simply to visit. Just like Prata Riverside Village, a project already underway and undertaken by VIC Properties, the goal is to create an integrated area focused exclusively on people and their quality of life.

With Matinha and Prata Riverside Village projects, and taking into account the construction of the Orient Riverside Park, whose first stage was inaugurated this year, VIC Properties shall linked Parque das Nações to the rest of the city, continuing its mission of revamping a part of the city that has long been forgotten.

The Matinha Decontamination Plan was presented to the population on the 30th of July, in a webinar held by the Marvila Parish Council, which you can watch here: