Contaminated Land

"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 a significant possibility of such harm being caused; or

(b)Pollution of controlled waters is being, or is likely to be, caused"

To constitute significant harm (or the significant possibility of such harm), there must exist a pollutant linkage. The pollutant linkage consists of three strands -

• A source
• A pathway
• A receptor

The source is the land itself, which will have an unacceptable concentration of an undesirable chemical. Such chemicals could be metallic (for instance, lead); inorganic (arsenic or cyanide); organic (dioxins or polyaromatic hydrocarbons) or any other compound that could give rise to harm.

Such chemicals could arise due to natural phenomenon (some soils have naturally high levels of arsenic) or from historic, industrial activities. Certain historic activities leave a legacy of contamination, as the use and disposal of chemicals was often not of concern. Such chemicals can persist, and thus still remain as a source today.

A pathway is a way for the source to harm the receptor. For instance, if soil in a garden were contaminated, it could affect those residents living there by the ingestion of any home grown vegetables, through soil/skin contact during gardening, through inhalation of dust etc.

A receptor is something that must be affected by the contamination. This could be a human, an ecological habitat or, in the case of Bromsgrove, the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer which runs under much of the District.

It should be noted here that all three of the above must be present to constitute contaminated land.

What are the Councils Responsibilities?

Bromsgrove District Council has a statutory duty to investigate its area for potentially contaminated land. The Council must take a strategic approach, which must be:

• Rational, ordered and efficient
• Proportionate to the seriousness of any risk
• Ensure that the most pressing problems are located first
• Ensure that resources are targeted where contaminated land is most likely to exist
• Ensure that the Council identifies requirements for the detailed inspection of land

In order to rationalise how the Council will deal with contaminated land, a Contaminated Land Strategy  (4.21 MB) has been developed. The Contaminated Land Strategy details the procedures that the Council will follow when investigating potentially contaminated sites.

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