Contaminated land

Certain substances are known to be hazardous to people and the environment and the presence of these harmful substances in the ground can cause contaminated land.
  

Harmful substances include:

• Metals (eg lead and mercury)
• Petroleum hydrocarbons (eg diesel and petrol)
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are usually found in ash
• Solvents
• Acids
• Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides
• Asbestos fibres
• Hazardous ground gases (eg methane)

Much of today's land contamination originates from polluting industrial processes from the 19th and 20th centuries, but the problem it creates has only recently been appreciated. Other sources of contamination include rubbish tips, leaking fuel tanks, sewage and agriculture. 

Our responsibility with respect to contaminated land lies through both Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the planning regime.

In this section:

• Contaminated land and planning applications
  Developers should always consider the possibility that the land they wish to develop may be contaminated. Sufficient information must be submitted with a planning application to enable us to determine whether a proposed development can proceed.
• Investigation and remediation of contaminated land
  The investigation, assessment and remediation (clean-up) of contaminated land can be split into a series of four phases - preliminary risk assessment, site investigation and risk assessment, remediation and verification.
• Contaminated land strategy and register
  Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 was introduced specifically to address the historical legacy of contaminated land. We are required to produce a contaminated land strategy to describe their legal responsibilities and to maintain a register of contaminated sites.
• Environmental searches and enquiries
  As understanding of the importance of contaminated land has increased, it has become more common for solicitors and people buying houses to enquire about it.