Legislation Contamination
What does the law mean when it refers to "contaminated land"?
Land is in a contaminated state if, and only if, substances in, on or under the land are causing relevant harm, or there is the significant possibility of them causing relevant harm to:
- Health of living organisation
- Ecological systems
- Quality of controlled waters
- Property
Contamination must be due to former "industrial" use and substance can be in solid or liquid form or in the form of a gas or vapour. "Industrial" is to be interpreted widely, meaning that the presence of the substance must be due to the historical site use as opposed to being naturally occurring. However, there are still a few specifically allowable naturally occurring substances, such as radon and arsenic.
The definition of land includes buildings, and hence the removal of asbestos can qualify as the most common hazardous material still found in buildings.
What does the law mean when it refers to long-term derelict land?
Relevant derelict land remediation is specified as:
- removal of post-tensioned concrete heavyweight construction
- removal of building Foundations and machinery bases
- removal of reinforced pile caps
- removal of reinforced concrete basements
- below ground removal of redundant services
Preparatory activities for the above are also eligible items for relief.