Nelson Environmental Remediation, Alberta wellsite oil contamination soil remediation, Alberta, Canada: Excavation cells and stockpiles at a legacy Alberta wellsite drilling-waste disposal area, with CAT excavators and a dozer staging contaminated soil for thermal treatment.

Nelson Environmental Remediation, Alberta wellsite oil contamination soil remediation, Alberta, Canada: Nelson RS20 mobile thermal desorption system in operation at the Alberta wellsite, with steam venting from the treated-soil discharge as hydrocarbons are driven off.

Nelson Environmental Remediation, Alberta wellsite oil contamination soil remediation, Alberta, Canada: Close detail of the Nelson RS20 thermal desorption train on-site in Alberta, showing rotary kiln, afterburner stack and supporting modules running on recycled used oil.

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Case Study

Alberta oil contamination and wellsite soil remediation

Mobile thermal treatment at a historic west-central Alberta wellsite and drilling-waste disposal area during spring breakup.

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Alberta oil contamination and wellsite soil remediation

A four-month program

Capability Applied

Mobile Thermal Desorption→

Case Study Reel

Case study reel, Alberta legacy wellsite drilling waste remediation.

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Site background and contamination

Historic upstream oil and gas activity left BTEX and F2/F3 hydrocarbon contamination in soil at the wellsite and associated drilling-waste area.

Site

Historic wellsite with drilling-waste disposal area, west-central Alberta

Contaminants

BTEX and F2/F3 petroleum hydrocarbon fractions

Nelson’s role and treatment selection

Nelson supplied the plant and thermal operations through the environmental consultant for an Alberta utility owner. On-site treatment allowed work to continue through spring breakup, when conventional hauling and off-site handling can be restricted.

Nelson role

Thermal remediation contractor: plant and operations

Equipment, handling and logistics

The RS-20 rotary thermal train drove hydrocarbons off the soil for destruction in the high-temperature afterburner. Burners used recycled used oil as process fuel, reducing virgin-fuel demand and transportation requirements.

Equipment

RS-20 rotary thermal train with afterburner, fired on recycled used oil

Sampling, permits and verification

The system operated under the Alberta Code of Practice for Small Incinerators, with notification to Alberta Environment and Parks. Treated soil was tested against Alberta Tier 2 criteria before return to the footprint.

Documented outcomes

Material quantity

19,223 tonnes

Result

All treated soil met criteria and was returned to the site footprint

Last updated · October 2026

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Remediation Strategy Navigator

Start from a site like this one

Run the same diagnostic our engineers ran here. Five questions on contaminant, matrix, site context, driver, and scale, and the Strategy Navigator shows which treatment path your conditions point toward.

· A shortlist of treatment paths ranked against your answers

· The reasoning behind every technology that surfaces

· A shareable link that reopens the same strategy

· A downloadable strategy brief at the end

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Outputs are indicative. Reach out for site-specific refinements.

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