Contaminated Land

Many contaminated or brown field sites sit idle and unused for decades. One of the main reasons for this is because the costs of cleaning them to safe standards are more than the land would be worth after redevelopment. However, as pressures for provision of development land in the UK have increased, redevelopment of brown field sites has become more common. To help developers understand and quantify the risks involved in acquiring contaminated sites for redevelopment, a growing number of risk assessment techniques have been developed. Furthermore, progress has also been made in investigation methods and remedial works techniques.

Local authorities in the UK have spent considerable sums identifying land that could be potentially contaminated under the Contaminated Land Regulations 2006. Identifying sites by their past uses is a good indicator to the likelihood of contamination being present and we regularly undertake prospective surveys of sites to establish their past history (so-called Phase 1 reports). However, in the process of cleaning contaminated brown field sites, surprises are sometimes encountered, such as previously unknown underground storage tanks (UST's), buried drums or buried wastes. Where unexpected circumstances arise, the cost for cleaning up brownfield land can increase significantly and as a result the clean up work is either delayed or stopped entirely.

To avoid unexpected contamination and increased costs, many developers insist that a site be thoroughly investigated (via a Phase 2 site Investigation) prior to commencing remedial clean up activities.

A Proposals as to how a brown field site can be safely redeveloped are set out in a Phase 3 report.

Depending on site specific circumstances and developers intentions, we can assist in providing just a simple risk assessment (Phase 1 report) or if contamination risks are present can then go on to a detailed investigation (Phase 2) and if necessary a full remedial works strategy (Phase 3). We also have experience of supervising remediation projects to ensure that defined clean-up standards are achieved.