Contaminated land
Land that is contaminated contains substances in or under the land that are actually or potentially hazardous to health or the environment. Areas with a long history of industrial production will have many sites which may be affected by their former uses such as mining, industry, chemical and oil spills and waste disposal. These sites are known as Brownfield Land.
Contamination can also occur naturally as a result of the geology of the area, or through agricultural use.
United Kingdom
A requirement was placed on all local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland to investigate potentially contaminated sites and, where necessary, ensure they are remediated by Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990,[1] which was inserted by the Environment Act 1995.
The regime in Part IIA did not apply to radioactive contamination, but section 78YC permitted Ministers to make regulations to apply Part IIA to such contamination. Such Regulations have been made.[2]
The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 made similar provision for Northern Ireland[3]
Legal definition
Section 78A(2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990[1] defines "Contaminated Land" as:
- “Contaminated land” is any land which appears to the local authority in whose area it is situated to be in such a condition, by reason of substances in, on or under the land, that—
- (a) significant harm is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused; or
- (b) significant pollution of controlled waters is being caused, or there is a significant possibility of such pollution being caused;[1]
The Contaminated Land Report (CLR) series of documents have been produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Environment Agency, to provide regulators with "relevant, appropriate, authoritative and scientifically based information and advice on the assessment of risk from contamination in soils".
The Environment Agency has issued a number of Soil Guideline Values (SGVs) which, whilst non-binding, may be used as guidance in the environmental risk assessment of land and in setting remediation targets. They should only be applied to human health assessments.