Land Quality

The UK’s long industrial history has resulted in a substantial legacy of potentially contaminated land. The potential risks associated with this legacy relate to human health, groundwater, natural habitats and property, although fortunately, serious harm from contamination is very rare.

To address this problem, on the 1st April 2000 Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 came into force. Under this legislation, councils have to adopt and implement a Contaminated Land Strategy. Within this strategy we must identify and investigate areas of land that are potentially contaminated, find the person(s) who are responsible for the contamination and monitor the clean up or remediation of the land.