2006 saw a new milestone in the history of Whitburn in relation to the remnants of the historical coal mining industry adjacent to the town. Work to dismantle Bing 3, the infamous "burning" bing started. It's not just being capped or partly removed, as has been attempted previously, but it will disappear from the landscape completely. No longer will the smoking spectre of a long gone but not forgotten era dominate the Whitburn skyline. Even in its current "Table Mountain" state Bing 3 is an imposing site on the towns’ horizon and before the huge conical or pyramid section was taken down in 1989 the bing could be seen for miles around, as can be seen in this photo.

The Problem

To begin with, what is a bing? Basically it is a heap of spoil. Bing 3 is just a massive pile of sandstone, shale, mud stone and waste coal. It is just colliery waste material extracted in the coal mining process. In the old days there was little waste as coal was excavated by hand and the miners were selective which meant that it was virtually only coal that went to the surface. As technology took over, coal was mined by machine. More coal was mined but in the process the dirt bands in-between the coal seams were also extracted. The coal was then separated on the surface and sold on, the remainder became spoil. Some of the bings were loosely dumped and in some cases the separation process was not 100% efficient and fragments of coal remained mixed in with the spoil and in certain situations this would lead to combustion.

 

So what causes a bing to combust? Pay attention, here comes the science bit:

Combustion or fire needs three things to be present so that it can happen

Oxygen, Heat & Fuel

If any one part of the equation is not present fire cannot start, if one is taken out, the fire will go out. Fire is just a chemical reaction caused when all these parts are present and it is commonly known as the fire triangle.

Fire, like humans need oxygen. Take away the oxygen and the fire suffocates, just as we would.

So, the first part of the equation is formed. We now need heat. Coal and similar materials can heat up and give off flammable vapours and can become volatile under pressure. So, two out of three components are now present and the third, fuel, has already been mentioned and that is the coal. All it needs now is a spark, which could be caused by just about anything, and combustion occurs. Coal burns at a relatively low temperature of around 300°C whereas natural gas burns at 600°C and the surface of the sun…well, that is a cool 6000°C. So within the bing the heat build up doesn't’ have to be that great for combustion to take place.

This all leads to the infamous burning Bing No. 3. It didn’t mean that the whole spoil heap was ablaze, merely that in certain patches the conditions were perfect as described above. Most of the problems associated with the bing occurred after the tall conical part of the bing was removed in 1989 leaving the large “table mountain” so familiar today. During the removal of the cone the operators at the time were digging holes in the search for coal that could be washed and sold on. They didn’t seem concerned with or at least aware of the, environmental impact of their actions and used equipment which was small in comparison to what Minrec will be using, whose methodology and end result are focused only on the removal of the bing. During the late 90s and into this century the bing settled down, it cooled down and conditions within the bing meant that outbreaks of burning were few and far between.

In the initial stages of the project, Ecosse Regeneration Ltd carried out investigations as to what was going on within the bing including thermal imaging from a helicopter and drilling into the bing to locate the ”hot spots”. It was found that while most of the bing was not burning some areas had surface burning only .5 m deep which were extinguished. The main location of deep seated burning was within the area where the loosely tipped conical peak had been removed. This part of the bing was capped with boulder clay and although the burning within this area was not totally removed, the odour had been eliminated. During the first half of the 90s the burning bing was often the talk of the town. It wasn’t the intermittent puffs of smoke or the occasional small fires which could be seen. It was that smell. It wasn't constant but when the odour hit Whitburn you knew about it. However odour problems, like the outbreaks of burning, have been very rare since the middle of the 90's.

When combustion took place, visible or otherwise, it released Hydrogen Sulphide (H²S) which smelled like rotten eggs. We can smell it at concentrations as low as 2 – 3 parts per billion (ppb) so it’s like looking for three people among the population of India. That is how sensitive a nose in good condition is and how pungent H²S is. Bing No.3 therefore became synonymous with an obnoxious odour. However, as a lighter note, before the Bing gets blamed for everything, H²S producing bacteria can also be found in the human gut, and the smell of flatulence is largely due to trace amounts of the gas and the same bacteria in the mouth may also give you bad breath.

The Solution

Quite simply, the task is to remove 2 – 2.5 million m³ (cubic metres) of bing material and encapsulate it below ground level rendering it inert. The mammoth task will be done in three phases with the west end being removed first progressively heading eastwards and each phase will see the bing removed in layers or lifts of 4 – 5m slices. Phase 1 & 2 will account for some 1.5 million m³ as this is where the bing is highest at between 25 - 28m above ground level. The first task has been to create voids around the bing in which the spoil was be placed, compacted and encapsulated. These voids will be or have been created as part of the normal open cast coaling process. Operations will be screened from Whitburn by working west to east. These areas are shown on this map overlaid on an aerial image of the bing taken around 2003. The map also shows the areas which will be mined in conjunction with the removal of the bing. An important task has been the creation of the haul ramps 25m wide up the sides of the bing leading from the existing haul road which goes around 3 sides at the base of the bing. The haul road on the north side allowed the stock of boulder clay, used to smother any outbreaks, to be placed. The south soide haul road will be used to ferry the bing material during the excavation. As previously mentioned, the equipment used the first time the bing was tackled was small compared to the beasts Minrec will be using, namely an RH120C and 3 Caterpillar 777Ds. As can be seen elsewhere in this site, this dynamic duo work seamlessly together and are perfect for an operation such as this. In addition to the stock of boulder clay, a water column has been set up and will be used to douse any outbreaks or dampen the bing of it gets too dry and dusty. The bing, like any other part of the site must be treated in the same way to mitigate any loose dirt and dust flying about.

Once the plant was in place and the control measures set up the next step was to excavate a series of test slots to ascertain the condition of the bing before the first lift commenced. These slots went down about 4m and gave an accurate indication of the make-up and composition of the material. At the same time a new ramp was constructed down the side of the bing directly into the L shaped void of C8 etc, which at its deepest point was 35m into the bowels of the earth. The results from the test drillings came back positive and the first lift will commenced.

The lifts are excavated by the mighty O&K RH120 then transferred into the 777Ds which will ferry the spoil down to the void. The big Cats can carry up to around 100 tonnes or over 45m³ of spoil in one load and the 120C’s business end; the bucket can carve out 15 m³ in one large bite. 3 large bites and the Cat is full!. The graphics shows a simplified 3D representation of the bing with the lifts of phase 1 highlighted in white and some of the voids around the bing. Please note that the voids are not to scale but merely to give an indication of where they are situated. Test slots will be excavated after each layer and checked. Assuming that everything goes to plan, the next layer lift is excavated and taken down to the void.where it is laid in thin layers and compacted to minimise air pockets (see the Methodology page for a fuller description of compaction).

REMINDER: If any one part of the Fire Triangle equation is not present fire cannot start. The bing material will ultimately end up no closer than 5 m below the finished ground level, encapsulated by normal site material rendering it inert and bing spoil that could give rise to water pollution will be placed in a lined hole to stop contamination. Minrec estimated that during Phase 1 they would transfer around 600,000 m³ into the void taking around 10 weeks. At this point, work to remove the bing ceased to allow mining in C18 to occur.

After Phase 1 was completed and C18 mined, the process moved eastwards. The stock of boulder clay and water column moved further back to the east and the haul track repositioned further along the side of the bing leading down to the new void created after the next phase of mining. The process of excavating test slots then lifting the layers, excavating test slots etc will start all over again. Phase 2 will see the bulk of the bing disappear with some 900,000 m³ of spoil being removed and buried in the voids. As before, once the 6 lifts are completed, the removal work will stop so that the mining of C17 can begin.

After Phase 2 is complete and C17 has been mined there will be voids around three sides of the bing ready to take the rest of the waste material. The control measures will once again be moved. The remaining bing is now sloping gently down to ground and at its highest will only be around 20m above ground level. It also takes a dog-leg turn to the north (the bing is where the driving range will be situated) and a good 4x4 could easily drive up the slope. This part of the bing is also where the cone, which reached a further 55 metres into the sky, stood. In “old money” the peak of the cone was 1000 feet above sea level, Whitburn’s very own Ben Nevis. Because of the lower height, the number of lifts required will decrease. The same control measures will still be available, the same test slots will be drilled and the same care taken. Minrec, believe that if they encounter any problems with the spoil they will encounter them in this phase. However, they are confident that disruption will be minimal and if they come across any pockets of “hot” material they will be isolated and dealt with accordingly and if need be they would transfer additional equipment e.g. another RH120C and some more Cats to the area to ensure that the problem is dealt with as soon as possible. Removal of this remaining part of the bing will allow the coal in D6 and D7 to be mined. Overall it is planned to shift around 60,000 m³ per week resulting in the removal of the bing and associated mining taking roughly 40 - 45 weeks. Weather as usual may play a part as will the “hot spots” if any but although the start of the work was delayed slightly, the process to dismantle the Bing will continue right through until is has been completely removed in 2007. By that time the Downdies will be able to proclaim…” The Bing is dead, long live the Bing!!”

The Monitoring

As can be seen in other pages in this website, Minrec & Ecosse Regeneration Ltd have taken great care to ensure that the work carried out stays within strict guidelines and that dust and noise levels etc do not breach limits set out by West Lothian Council, Government and beyond. Alongside the 5 Osiris dust monitors (location map is on the dust page) Minrec have installed two Zellweger Hydrogen Sulphide monitors, one at Kepscaith Farm, the other in Longridge. These monitors are continuously monitoring the levels of H²S and are giving accurate baseline control levels to work against before the dismantling of the bing starts and will be used throughout the dismantling period to monitor the potential emissions. West Lothian Council (WLC) is establishing its own monitoring at Reeves Cottages to the north-north east of the bing. In addition the council will also monitor H²S using portable Jerome analysers in various locations around the site and in Whitburn.

The World Health Organisation has indicated that concentrations of around 5 ppb for 30 minutes will be annoying but health is only affected when the levels reach 10,000 ppb. Ecosse and WLC have set the trigger levels in their monitors at 100 ppb, which is 100 times lower. Added to this, Allan Corbett, Minrec’s Project Manager, has stated that not only has he the local environment as his concern but more especially the health & safety of his workers on the bing. So if they are safe, Whitburn will be safe.

There has been a lot of media coverage, from newspaper and the web to local and national radio, regarding the removal of Bing 3 some of which appears quite daunting but let's try and allay some of the fears. Ecosse, Minrec and West Lothian Council are aware of the possible issues and have spent a lot of time, effort and planning to making sure these dangers are minimised. The bing is being monitored around the clock, measures are in place to limit any outbreaks or combustion and the removal of the bing has been phased to minimise disruption.. Every effort is being taken to ensure that the removal of Bing 3 occurs without disruption to the local community and while there is a possibility of some discomfort during the operations please remember that this is a final solution and will rid the town of this blot on the landscape forever.

As the bing is dismantled, the content of this page will change to reflect the progress with photos showing every step. The Bing is going, this time it’s for good.

GALLERY OF VARIOUS IMAGES RELATED TO BING 3 AND IT'S REMOVAL

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