Contaminated land guidance

The assessment and remediation of land potentially affected by contamination can be complex and expensive. However, the general process to be followed when undertaking this type of work is straightforward, and now adopted throughout the contaminated land assessment and remediation industry. The general principle is that a comprehensive desk study, incorporating preliminary risk assessment, should be undertaken to identify previous site usage and hence potential contaminants. This should be followed by

In the UK, contaminated land is dealt with on a risk management basis. The Environment Agency (2004) has produced detailed guidance on the process in CLR 11, Model Procedures for the Management of Contaminated Land. The ICE Design and Practice Guide Contaminated Land Investigation, Assessment and Remediation, 2nd edition (Strange and Langdon, 2008) also provides guidance on the process and a comprehensive list of references. There are many other organisations in the UK that have also published guidance relating to the management of contaminated land, such as the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA), the Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (AGS) and the National House-Building Council (NHBC). BS 10175, ‘Code of practice for the investigation of potentially contaminated sites’, provides specific guidance on the investigation process (BSI, 2011).