Service Description: The local authority is compiling a list of land that may be contaminated. It inspects planning applications to see if any proposed developments may be on potentially contaminated land and requests conditions to be placed on those that are to ensure that any clean up necessary is carried out. It has agreed a strategy for inspecting and determining whether land may be contaminated and is currently prioritising these. They can also take the necessary action to clean up the pollution.
Answer: There are 3 main agencies: Environmental Health (the guardians of human health, plants and animals and buildings), the Environment Agency (guardians of the water environement including groundwater) and Building Control (experts on buildings and construction safety). Environmental Health has produced a leaflet available on its website as well as its strategy for dealing with contaminated land. There is a great deal of information on the Environment Agency's website. If you know or suspect that land had had previous use you are advised to contact Environmental Health who have a list of companies who can give expert advice on contamination and remediation. It will be your responsibility as landowner to investigate the land to establish what contaminants, if any, exist and their extent. You will then need to demonstrate that they pose no risk to humans, plants, animals, ecosystems, buildings, waterways. If they present an unacceptable risk to one or more of these you will need to devise a system for cleaning up the land satisfactorily. - Related Link