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Contaminated land and land use
Published in Stephen Battersby, Clay's Handbook of Environmental Health, 2023
Where the local authority wish to authorise a third party (consultant/contractor) to undertake investigations, as mentioned earlier, it has specific powers under section 108 of the Environment Act 1995 to do so. This can involve entering premises (includes land), taking samples or carrying out related activities for the purpose of enabling the authority to determine whether any land is Contaminated Land. It should be noted that the Agency does not have this power, so, where the local authority and the Agency both agree that there is a potential for a contaminant linkage to exist, and if it did, the resulting Contaminated Land would be declared a Special Site, the Agency must apply to the local authority to appoint a third party. Clearly then, there must be broad agreement on what constitutes a ‘suitable person’ in these circumstances.
Geotechnics
Published in Fiona Cobb, Structural Engineer’s Pocket Book, 2020
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 (in particular Part IIA) is the primary legislation covering the identification and remediation of contaminated land. The Act defines contamination as solid, liquid, gas or vapour which might cause harm to ‘targets’. This can mean harm to the health of living organisms or property, or other interference with ecological systems. The contamination can be on, in or under the land. The Act applies if the contamination is causing, or will cause, significant harm or results in the pollution of controlled waters including coastal, river and ground water. In order to cause harm the pollution must have some way (called a ‘pathway’) of reaching the ‘target’. The amount of harm which can be caused by contamination will depend on the proposed use for the land. Remediation of contaminated land can remove the contamination, reduce its concentrations below acceptable levels, or remove the ‘pathway’.
Environmental and health-related building problems
Published in Duncan Marshall, Derek Worthing, Roger Heath, Nigel Dann, Understanding Housing Defects, 2013
Duncan Marshall, Derek Worthing, Roger Heath, Nigel Dann
Since the introduction of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA), all local authorities are required to assess the land in their areas in terms of identifying sites which are or could cause harm or pollution in terms of a risk to health or the environment as well as pollution of watercourses and groundwater. The dangers to humans from contaminated land include inhalation of obnoxious dust or gases, contact with toxic substances within the soil itself or through food grown in the soil and the pollution of water courses. When contaminated land is identified, the local authority is then required to take action to ensure that the land is made safe, i.e. ensure that the original polluter, the landowner or other responsible person (including residential property owners and, where appropriate, developers) undertakes the necessary action to clean up a site and restore it to a state in which it is ‘suitable for use’.
The assessment of soil contamination by heavy metals using geostatistical sequential Gaussian simulation method
Published in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 2018
Adem Ersoy, Tayfun Yusuf Yünsel
Heavy metals or metalloids may be defined as a group of inorganic toxic chemical compounds which cause to affect negatively living life and environment. These occur in contaminated areas and corresponding to densities greater than 5, are lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), zinc (Zn), mercury (Hg), and nickel (Ni). Soil and environment are contaminated by heavy metals through emissions and exposure from many generations including industrial sites, mining activities, abandoned mines and their wastes, pesticides, fertilizers, products of petroleum, waste water irrigation, sewage sludge and burning of organic fuels. Contaminated soil can have detrimental effects on human health and ecosystem through direct or indirect ingestion, inhalation and contact with contaminated land.
Distributions of cadmium, zinc, and polyphenols in Gamblea innovans
Published in International Journal of Phytoremediation, 2019
Misuzu Sakurai, Rie Tomioka, Akiko Hokura, Yasuko Terada, Chisato Takenaka
Heavy metal contamination of soil is a serious worldwide problem that researchers have struggled to resolve. Physical or chemical strategies such as removal of contaminated soil and replacement with uncontaminated soil can be performed at high financial cost; but when demand for contaminated land is low or where soil contamination is high and the area is large (e.g., abandoned mines), the focus shifts to diffusion prevention. Phytoremediation is preferred for cleanup and diffusion prevention because it maintains the biological properties and physical structure of soil. It is visually more appealing, potentially less expensive (Khan et al. 2000; Pérez-de-Mora et al. 2007), and has less environmental impact than do other techniques.