Environmental Experts to Convene at Gasworks Symposium

The Sixth International Symposium and Exhibition on the Redevelopment Of Manufactured Gas Plant Sites (MGP 2015) will be held in Ghent, Belgium 8-10, November 2015

Ghent, Belgium, 17-9-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — The Sixth International Symposium and Exhibition on the Redevelopment of Manufactured Gas Plant Sites (MGP 2015) will be held at the University of Ghent’s Cultural and Convention Center Het Pand in Ghent, Belgium, on 8-10 November, 2015. Conference organizers for MGP 2015 are OVAM, which stands for Openbare Afvalstoffenmaatschappij voor het Vlaams Gewest (the Public Waste Agency of Flanders responsible for waste management and soil remediation); Parsons Brinckerhoff; the International Society of Technical and Environmental Professionals, Inc.; Environmental Industry and Conference Management; and the Center for Biomedical and Toxicological Research at Florida State University.

History of the Symposium
In the fall of 1995, the US Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Energy, and US Department of Commerce sponsored the International Symposium and Trade Fair on the Clean-up of Manufactured Gas Plants (MGP ’95) in Prague, Czech Republic. At that symposium, over 200 energy utility managers, consultants, contractors and regulators from across the world met and shared their experiences relating to the management of manufactured gas plant sites.

In the years since MGP ’95, there have been a number of spectacular examples of former gasworks site remediation and reuse. Projects like the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula in London (the site of the Millennium Dome), the Stade de France in Paris and PacBell Stadium in San Francisco took abandoned gasworks sites and redeveloped them in dramatic ways for new uses. The gasholder houses in Vienna and the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam have won international architectural and planning accolades for the incorporation of former manufactured gas plant industrial buildings in the site reuse. While these dramatic examples of site remediation and reuse were being implemented, hundreds of smaller sites have been remediated and returned to beneficial use.

The Future of Gasworks Remediation
Recognizing that the investigation, remediation and redevelopment of former gasworks sites is progressing in many countries, this represents only the beginning of the process. Thousands of sites still remain to be dealt with across Europe and the wider world, including some of the most complex and difficult projects. MGP 2015, therefore, will provide former gasworks site owners, site managers and community stakeholders with an opportunity to exchange experiences in redeveloping sites and turning them into valuable community assets. The symposium will focus on successful redevelopment case studies; innovative remediation technologies; interfaces with regulators; public involvement and community relations; and risk management issues. Special sessions will be developed and may deal with experiences such as the deployment of institutional controls and contaminated sediment management. The technical sessions will be closely integrated with an exhibition for technology vendors, technology developers, environmental consultants, academics and others providing goods and services in the redevelopment of manufactured gas plants. Furthermore, MGP 2015 attendants will be invited on site to learn about the ‘Tondelier project’ in host city Ghent, a sustainable urban development project that will integrate two remaining gasholders both as a functional and an aesthetic landmark among the 530 housing units to be built.

This event is the sixth in a series of symposia, following earlier conferences held in Prague, Czech Republic (1995), Reading, England (2006), Mystic, Connecticut, USA (2008), Chicago, Illinois, USA (2012), and Destin, Florida, USA (2014).

For information about the gasworks symposium or to learn about opportunities to become a sponsor or exhibitor please visit the MGP 2015 web site at: http://www.mgpsymposium.com

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MGP 2015 will be held at the University of Ghent Culture and Convention Center Het Pand

SOURCE: Environmental Industry Conference Management