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Environmental health
Contaminated land
Across the United Kingdom there are many thousands of sites that have been contaminated by past activities, practices or industries.
Some contamination
arises from events that happened centuries ago, for example at factories
dating back to the industrial revolution, some from decades ago like old
landfill sites and garages, and some contamination could be as recent as
last week, like an oil leak from a defective storage tank.
Any of these sources of contamination may present a hazard to human health or a risk to the general environment. Many contaminated sites will be cleaned up during the planning and development process.
Recent targets set by the Government encourage the building of new houses on previously developed 'brownfield' sites to relieve the pressure on greenfield areas and preserve the countryside. However, the Government has recognised that not all sites will fall within these controls.
A new regime for Local Authorities to deal with contaminated land within their areas was brought in by Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which was introduced in section 57 of the Environment Act 1995. These provisions came into force in the UK on the 1st April 2000.
Contaminated land strategy
All council’s in the UK are legally obliged to produce a contaminated
land strategy.
Adur District Council has developed its strategy in accordance with government guidelines, working closely with all other local authorities in East and West Sussex, as well as the Environment Agency.
The document sets out the Council’s approach for the identification, inspection, assessment and remediation of land which may be designated as contaminated land in accordance with the statutory definition at Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The strategy sets out the council's approach and legal duties regarding contaminated land, including how it will :
- Inspect the district to identify contaminated land
- Decide - in consultation with the Environment Agency - whether any contaminated land is a 'special site' (due to the presence of conditions such as waste acid, pollution of controlled waters etc)
- Identify and notify those who may need to take action on the land
- Consult with the relevant parties as to the remediation actions that are to be carried out
- Take enforcement action against those who fail to comply with any necessary measures
- Maintain a public register of details of regulatory action taken under the Act
- Undertake immediate remediation if there is an imminent danger of serious harm
Documents :
For more information, including applying for an Environmental Report on an area of land, please contact Environmental Support.
