Contaminated Land Assessments

Contaminated Land Investigations and Assessments (Site Characterisation)

Land is only considered to be “contaminated land” in the legal sense if it poses an unacceptable risk to human health or the wider environment. As pressure on land and the drive for sustainability increases, developers and construction companies are increasingly choosing to redevelop contaminated land and Brownfield sites for domestic dwellings, retail outlets, offices and industrial units.

A phased Contaminated Land Assessment is conducted to assess land suitability and review the potential risks posed. This typically comprises of:

• Phase 1 investigation : Desk study or qualitative risk assessment (with the possibility of a site walkover)
• Phase 2 investigation: Intrusive site investigation and quantitative risk assessment .
• Phase 3 investigation: Remediation strategy detailed quantitative risk assessment .
  

When will you need a contaminated land investigation or a land assessment?

Local Authority Planning Departments will place conditions on planning consents that involve any form of contaminated land or Brownfield land. Where contamination is found, it is cleaned and remediated to a standard where no risk is posed to future users of the site, controlled waters or environmentally sensitive habitats.
Under the contaminated land regime, investigation may be enforced by the Local Authority or Environment Agency even if a site is not being redeveloped but is causing (or has the potential to cause) significant harm.

ESI’s contaminated land assessments are competitive, conclusive and recommended for:

• Planning Permission conditions
• Property transactions

The first step in concluding contaminated land issues is calling the ESI land contamination team on 01743 276100 or email info@esinternational.com

ESI have conducted hundreds of projects, some of which are highlighted below - all are linkable and support  the statement that ESI is a leading expert in land contamination investigation, land assessments and land reports.

Case Studies

• Contaminated land investigation for a pet hospital
• Contaminated land assessment for a school playing field
• Contaminated land assessment of a steel manufacturing works
• Contaminated land assessment for a supermarket
• Contaminated land assessment for a closed industrial landfill
• Contaminated land assessment for the countrys first iron framed building
• Contaminated land assessment of a former gas works
• Contaminated land investigation of a brownfield site
• Contaminated land investigation in Bristol