What is contaminated land?

Contaminated land is made ground or soil that is potentially contaminated with hazardous materials that can pose unacceptable risk to individuals or the surrounding environment. There are two type of contaminated land:

• Legally Defined Contaminated Land - contaminated land that poses unacceptable risks to individuals, protected species, surface water, and the environment. This land is legally required to be managed by the ‘responsible person’(person responsible for the contamination or land owner). Such land may have previously been used for factories, mines, refineries, and landfill. 

In some cases, on specialist sites, contaminated land may be acceptable when properly managed and is strictly regulated and subject to permits.

• Non-legally Defined Contaminated Land - contaminated land that the ‘responsible person’ is still responsible for managing the contamination. In this instance the ‘responsible person’ will likely be the individual who has caused the contamination or the landowner.

Your local authority or government will decide if your land is legally contaminated or not and will appoint the ‘responsible person’ where necessary to manage and/or remediate the contamination.

How can land become contaminated?

Land can become contaminated for a number of reasons such as historic use of the land where factories producing chemicals or hazardous bi-products historically stood. Other reasons may include:

• Importation of contaminated materials
• Poor construction methodology
• Natural degradation of surrounding properties
• Poor maintenance of on-site hazardous materials such as asbestos
• Known demolition of hazardous materials contained in buildings
• Use of demolished historic buildings as crushed hardcore

It is imperative to conduct contaminated ground investigations, surveys, and testing prior to any development works to prevent the spread of contamination and mitigate the risk to life and the environment through effective control measures and remediation.

Our contaminated land services include:

Through our in-house laboratory UKAS ISO 17025 accredited for soils contamination identification, analysis and quantification using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), we deliver a range of soils testing and analysis, including:

• Soils Chemical Testing
• Soil Sampling and Analysis
• WAC Testing
• Asbestos In Soils Testing and Inspection
• Contaminated Land Remediation
• Contaminated Land Re-Inspection & Clearance

What are my responsibilities?

Under the Land Contamination: Risk Management guidance, it is a legal requirement that the ‘responsible person’ i.e. the land owner or person responsible for causing the contamination takes steps to either manage the contamination or remediate to prevent further risk to life and the environment.

If you suspect your land could be contaminated with a hazardous substance or you are unsure, our team of Environmental Consultants can conduct initial desktop studies to assess the likelihood of contamination in your land prior to contaminated land survey and testing works, helping you to manage your project costs.

Contract our team today by clicking 'Make an Enquiry' now or give our team a call on 0345 5040 303.