If you think that any of your land is contaminated you should contact your local council.
Contaminated land assessment
Your local council may need to access your property or site to inspect it and take samples to establish whether your land is contaminated.
You only need to allow access if the council has identified a ‘reasonable possibility’ that the land is contaminated. However, if you do not give them permission, they can get an access warrant.
You and your local council must agree on any health and safety measures that must be put in place for inspection and sampling.
If the council identifies you as responsible for part or all of the clean-up, they will notify you. You should consider seeking legal advice and technical support. Your local council may be able to give you contact details for specialist consultants in your area. You will also be told about your right of appeal against the notification.
Contact your local council
Contaminated land remediation
Remediation is the action required to ensure that the land is no longer a risk to human health or the environment.
If your land is contaminated and you are held responsible, you can agree a voluntary remediation scheme with your local council. You must publish a remediation statement. This contains the steps needed to clean up the contaminated land. You may carry out the work in phases.
If you do not agree to a remediation scheme voluntarily, or if there is an emergency, your local council will issue a remediation notice.
If you have not published a remediation statement, you must comply with the requirements of any remediation notice issued by your local council. The notice will identify what you must do and by when. Your local council will consult you before they issue a remediation notice, except in the case of emergencies.
Before you start any remediation work, you must get the consent of the land owner if your business does not own the land.
If more than one person is responsible for cleaning up the land, your local council will decide how to share the cost of remediation. This will be detailed in your remediation notice. If your local council carries out all the remediation work, you will still need to pay your share of the costs.
You must notify your local council when the specified work has been carried out.
Allowing the natural recovery of land may be an acceptable form of remediation in some cases.
Special sites
If your site has been designated as a special site, your environmental regulator will determine what needs to be done and will serve any remediation notice if necessary.
Contact your environmental regulator
Contaminated soil in landfill
Disposing of contaminated soils at landfill sites is exempt from landfill tax until April 2012.
In this guideline:
What is contaminated land?
Who is responsible for cleaning up contaminated land?
Contaminated land assessment and remediation
How can you prevent land contamination?
Environmental damage: contaminated land
Contaminated land further information
Contaminated land legislation
