Contaminated land strategy

Once the Council has formally identified land as “contaminated land”, it must also consider whether it falls into the category of a “special site”. For any “special site”, the Environment Agency is the enforcing authority for the purposes of the Part 2A regime. What constitutes a “special site” is specified in the Contaminated Land (England) Regulations (CLeR) 2006. For a legal definition the Regulations must always be consulted, but in simple terms they include:

• Land causing pollution of Controlled Waters (Schedule 1 Regulation 3(c) of the CL(e)R 2006)
• Land contaminated with waste acid tar
• Land used for oil refining
• Land used for the manufacture or processing of explosives
• Land subject to Integrated Pollution Control (see Environmental Protection Act 1990 Part I - Prescribed Processes and Substances Regulations 1991 schedule 1 part A)
• Land owned or occupied by a defence organisation for naval, military or air force purposes.
• Atomic Weapons Establishment land.
• Land used for the production or disposal of chemical and biological weapons.
• Certain land at Greenwich Hospital.
• Land contaminated by radioactivity.

Where adjacent or adjoining land to a special site has been affected by the contamination so that it meets the definition of “contaminated land”, this land also forms part of the special site. The legal definition of contaminated land is slightly different if harm is due to radioactivity, as defined in Regulation 5 of The Radioactive Contaminated Land (England) Regulations 2006:

‘any land which appears to the local authority in whose land is situated to be in such a condition, by reason of substances in, on or under the land, that

a) Harm is being caused; or

b) There is a significant possibility of harm being caused’

With regard to radioactivity, ‘harm’ means lasting exposure to any human being resulting from the aftereffects of a radiological emergency, past practice or past work activity.