The green zone project, which the Umicore site in Hoboken launched about two years ago, is becoming concrete. Today, all local residents received a letter to inform them about the start of the works.
The first step in the future construction of a forest between the Umicore factory site in Hoboken and the streets next to the site will start on Monday 8 May. The contractor will start demolishing 17 homes that day. Later this year, the demolition of the other 169 homes that Umicore has bought on a voluntary basis in the area next to the site will follow. The area will make way for an enclosed forest of about 5 hectares next year. The five homes that have not been purchased will be integrated into the design of the green zone.
Download (only in Dutch) the letter to residents here with more information about:
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The different phases of demolition
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The dust reduction measures
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The future green zone
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Dear resident,
The green zone project, which the Umicore site in Hoboken launched about two years ago, is becoming concrete. The first step in the future construction of a forest between the Umicore factory site in Hoboken and the streets next to the site will start on Monday 8 May. The contractor will then start demolishing 17 homes. Later this year, the demolition of the other 169 homes that Umicore has bought on a voluntary basis in the area next to the site will follow. The area will make way for an enclosed forest of about 5 hectares next year. The five homes that have not been purchased will be integrated into the design of the green zone.
It has its origins in the autumn of 2020 when we offered our closest neighbours to sell their homes to Umicore. The area would make way for a green zone. The semi-annual lead-in-blood measurements of the children in the neighbourhood always showed that the children with the highest load-in-blood values lived in the streets right next to the site. The site has taken numerous measures that have reduced the impact of its industrial activities on the neighbourhood and will continue to work towards this. The green zone is a structural and sustainable solution to enable living and industry in each other's neighbourhood.
The start of the work is an important moment for the former residents of the houses that are being demolished and for the neighborhood as a whole. After all, the district has a long history and has developed after the arrival of shipyards and industry along the banks of the Scheldt. The district has grown over the years until the last houses were built against the factory site in 1958. The disappearance of the houses this year and the future green zone will drastically change the appearance of the Moretusburg district.
Now that the construction of the green zone will start soon, Umicore will use all possibilities to ensure that the work runs as safely as possible.
With this letter, we would like to give you an overview of the planned work and the precautions. We will regularly inform you about next steps. Contact details and information channels can be found at the bottom of the letter.
Work in two phases
The demolition of the total of 186 homes will take place in two phases. The reason for this is that Umicore and the contractor want to learn as much as possible from the demolition of the first 17 homes. The experiences from this first phase will be applied during the demolition of the other houses.
The first phase is expected to last a maximum of 1 month. After the disappearance of the 17 houses, the site will be sown with grass for the time being.
The second phase of the demolition of the remaining 169 homes will take place this autumn.
Dust control measures
The contractor will take precautions to limit the formation and spread of dust in the environment as much as possible. For example, work only takes place at low wind speeds. During the works, we will monitor the effect of these measures with the most precise techniques and make adjustments if necessary
We made the following agreements with the contractor, among others:
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The fences around the construction zone are equipped with dust screens
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Before a house is demolished, it is sprayed with water
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During the works, we will deploy fog cannon(s) that will precipitate the dust by means of moisture
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The monitoring of dust is done with very accurate equipment and via our own measuring stations in the area
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The rubble and demolition materials are transported wet and covered in trucks
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Sweeper trucks clean affected streets at the end of each business day (Monday through Friday)
In the interest of safety, the site is not accessible to third parties.
Future green zone
After the completion of the first phase and the disappearance of the 17 homes, the site will be temporarily sown with grass.
When the second phase is also completed with the demolition of the remaining 169 homes, we expect to start the construction and planting of the green zone in 2024. The homes that have not been purchased will be integrated into the design of the green zone. This enclosed area of approximately 5 hectares of native plantings of trees and shrubs will be adjacent to 1 hectare of greenery that Umicore planted on the site in the spring of March 2022. In time, the whole will grow into a forest.
More information on dust control measures
Arcadis study shows positive effect of construction of green zone.
For some time now, Umicore has been spending 25 million euros annually on environmental measures that successfully limit the spread of dust on the site and in the neighborhood and reduce emissions from our processes even further below the standard. We remain committed to achieving the best possible outcome.
Environmental measures range from dust control on and around the site to water management on the site and measures that limit noise. The biggest challenge lies in further reducing the concentrations of metals in blowing dust, falling dust and in fine suspended dust. Recent examples include the installation of windbreaks around the storage sites and along the Scheldt, the covering and misting of 10,000 m2 storage sites and the introduction of a weather-dependent operation of the site. For example, in the event of high wind speeds, we postpone certain logistics activities on the site.
The dust control measures help to further reduce the average lead-in-blood values. These show a downward trend.
Questions and information
If you have any questions, please contact SiteHoboken.Communicatie@umicore.com. If you have urgent reports, for example about dust nuisance, you can reach us on our free toll-free number
0800 - 93739.
We also keep local residents and interested parties informed via our newsroom and our Facebook channel "Umicore Hoboken Neighborhood Information".
