Spatial patterns of pollution associated with creosote treated poles in Mälardalen

Sammanfattning: Creosote is a product name given to a mixture of several hundred compounds, which is often used to protect wooden poles from rot and insect damage, however it has also been linked to causing cancer in humans. Alternative materials for power poles include concrete, steel, composite and non-treated wooden poles. This report looks at Mälarenergi Elnät ABs 17,000 creosote coated poles and their patterns of pollution. GIS analyses in ArcGIS were used to evaluate which creosote poles are most critical to replace by implementing a system of "penalty points" based on the spatial distribution of the poles. 15 of the creosote poles were selected for a field study to investigate how much creosote is leaked to the ground.1,000 of the power poles were assigned penalty points of 10 or higher which could be a starting point in pole replacement, although the penalty points system could be used in many different ways for this purpose. Of the 15 power poles investigated during the field work, 5 showed higher leakage than recommended by Naturvårdsverkets guidelines for sensitive ground use. These 15 poles only make up 0,1% of Mälarenergi Elnät ABs total creosote coated poles, but the results are considered alarming enough to at least merit further studies of the creosote leakage.