Contaminated Land
ACCON UK offers a comprehensive service in the field of contaminated land assessment, undertaking Phase 1, 2 and 3 investigations.
Population growth has meant that there is an increasing amount of development on ‘brownfield’ and former industrial sites, which may have suffered from many years of environmentally insensitive practices, resulting in environmental contamination. Implementation of Part 2A of Environmental Protection Act 1990 imposes a duty to restore past damage/contamination, this combined with the Government’s target of 60% of new housing to be developed on previously used land has placed greater importance on contamination issues during the planning process.
By undertaking a Phase 1 Study, it is possible to identify all potential risks; both to human health and to the proposed development presented by the potentially contaminated land and subsequently it is possible to eliminate those risks in an appropriate way.
Phase 1 Desk Study
The Phase 1 Desk Study identifies any potential sources of contamination resulting from the current and historical activities at the site by reviewing available information from sources such as archives, plans and records, databases and information from regulatory authorities. In this way we can discover the past and current activities at a site and assess them for potentially contaminative processes, in order to determine the potential for the presence of contamination.
The Phase 1 study also identifies any potentially sensitive receptors, e.g. humans, surface watercourses, aquifers, buildings or ecological receptors and also collates the information relating to the site’s environmental setting i.e. geology, hydrogeology, industrial activity, location of controlled waters, pollution incidents and proximity to open/closed landfill sites.
This information is then used to undertake a qualitative Risk Assessment through the development of a conceptual model for the site. The conceptual model identifies any Significant Pollutant Linkages which may be present. If Significant Pollutant Linkages are present then a Phase 2 site investigation may be required to quantify the risk and also to assess the potential for environmental liability associated with the site.
Phase 2 Site Investigation
An intrusive site investigation is undertaken to investigate each aspect highlighted by the Phase 1 desk study. The Phase 2 investigation is designed and implemented, using a variety of in-situ exploratory methods, size of site and type of contaminants identified by the desk study as potentially present.
Phase 3 Remediation
If remediation is required following the Phase 2 works, then a site specific remediation methodology can be produced; this involves consultation with the regulatory authorities to ensure satisfactory design and implementation of the remediation programme.