Contaminated Land
Throughout the UK, there are thousands of sites that have
been contaminated by previous industrial use, often from
traditional processes that are no longer in use. Some of these
sites may present a hazard to the general environment, but are
needed to satisfy the growing need for development land.
A principal duty of the Council is to protect residents and the
environment from any potential harm that may be caused by
contaminated land.
On the 1st July 2001 a statutory regime came into force in Wales
providing an improved system for the identification and remediation
of contaminated land. This regime is often referred to as 'Part
IIA', or 'Part 2A' of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Part IIA is not the only way that land contamination is tackled.
Planning and building control also deals with it, along with urban
regeneration initiatives, voluntary action by landowners and
industry, and the arrangements which protect the environment from
the impacts of current human activity such as waste management and
industrial controls.
Under Part IIA, the statutory definition of contaminated land
is:
"Any land which appears to the local authority in whose area
it is situated to be in such a condition, by reason of substances
in, on or under the land, that:
(a) Significant harm is being caused or there is significant
possibility of such harm being caused; or
(b) Pollution of controlled waters is being caused or is
likely to be caused."
To meet this definition there must be all of the following
components:
1. Source
A substance that is in, on or under the land and has the
potential to harm humans or to cause pollution of controlled
water.
2. Pathway
The route by which a receptor is being or could be exposed to or
affected by the source substance(s).
3. Receptor
Can be any of the following:
Living organism;
Group of living organisms;
Ecological system;
Property;
Controlled waters.
For a site to be contaminated, all three elements must be
present.
Who will be affected?
Any person, organisation or business might be liable for clean
up costs if it can be shown that they have caused or knowingly
permitted the contamination, or if they own or occupy contaminated
land where no original polluter can be found.
What does the Vale of Glamorgan Council do as Regulators?
Our first task has been to carry out a desk top exercise that
has identified over 400 potentially contaminated sites. These sites
have been selected based on the type of land use over the past one
hundred years, as far as is known.
At the moment all sites are being identified and classified on a
GIS (Graphical Information System) and a risk assessment is being
undertaken on each site. We have produced a Contaminated Land
Inspection Strategy that describes the process in detail.
Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy
The details of how we fulfil our duties under Part IIA can be
found in our Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy.
Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy
The strategy will be regularly reviewed and updated as
needed.
Contaminated Land Register
We are required by the Environmental Protection Act to maintain
a public register of the Remediation of Contaminated Land. The full
register is a paper based document and will be available for public
viewing at the Civic Offices. It will list any regulatory action
undertaken by the Council in respect to the remediation of
Contaminated Land.
Below is a summary of the information currently on the
register:
To date, the Vale of Glamorgan has not been required to
determine any land within its administrative boundary as
Contaminated Land as defined under Part IIA of the Environmental
Protection Act 1990.
Any new information will be added to the register as soon as
reasonably practicable.