All reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on this web-page; however Thurrock Borough Council and its officers do not accept any liability whatsoever for damages arising from its use or interpretation.
Thurrock Council's position on the north bank of the River Thames in Essex has given rise to a diverse industrial history which includes mineral extraction, oil storage and refining, paper manufacture, cement works, power stations, bulk chemical production, gas works and landfill sites, which in turn has left a legacy of potential land contamination known as brownfield sites. Some of these former industrial sites are now being re-developed for housing.
On 1 April 2000 the Government introduced legislation, Part IIA Environment Protection Act 1990 (external link), to address land contamination and bring brownfield sites back into beneficial use. Responsibility for implementation of this legislation has been placed with local authorities.
The means by which Thurrock Council will implement this legislation and identify and manage land damaged by previous industrial activity has been published in its Inspection Strategy for Contaminated Land.
Under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 the statutory definition of contaminated land is:
'...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 -
Statutory guidance has been issued concerning this definition in DEFRA Circular 01/2006 (PDF 528.2kB) which includes land contaminated by radioactivity and supersedes DETR Circular 02/2000 and where harm is attributable to radioactivity the definition of contaminated land has been modified as:
'...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 -
The role of Thurrock Council, as a regulator, under Part IIA is to:
Contaminants from the soil, such as heavy metals, hydrocarbons etc., may enter our bodies through:
There are a number of other potential impacts including:
Land is usually contaminated through a previous or existing industrial use, examples of such previous uses within Thurrock are:
In 2001 the Law Society issued a legal warning card to all solicitors with regard to Part IIA, the main points of the card are listed below:
'In purchases, mortgages and leases, solicitors should:
In commercial cases, if there is a likelihood that the site is contaminated:
Unresolved problems, consider:
Your conveyancer can conduct an environmental search for you. The companies which undertake the environmental search for the conveyancer have access to large data bases of information including records of former landfill sites. This information is used to assess whether or not, in the opinion of the search company, the property being examined is likely to be affected by contamination. The results of these searches should be treated with caution as not all contaminated land has been identified and the databases on which the searches are based are not always accurate.
Based on the information gathered, search companies often issue a 'certificate' if the property is not affected by contamination. This is a professional opinion and may need to be investigated further for added security. If no 'certificate' is issued the search company is likely to advise you to seek further information.
You should, in this instance, contact your local authority who are likely to have more accurate and up to date information. You can contact Environmental Health at Thurrock Council by telephoning 01375 652388 or emailing: environmental.health@thurrock.gov.uk
Further information on the requirements of mortgage lenders, with regard to addressing contaminated land, can be found through the following link: Council of Mortgage Lenders (external link)
Generally site investigations are carried out using a tiered approach this can include a desk study (Phase I), followed by intrusive investigation (Phase II), if necessary. Intrusive investigations consist, typically, of trial pits and boreholes to collect soil and groundwater samples, these are analysed for toxic chemicals. A risk assessment is produced based on the sample results and a remediation strategy (Phase III) is formulated, if necessary.
Much of the work is very specialist and you will almost certainly need the assistance of a specialist contractor. However, your knowledge of the history of the land will help the contractor in undertaking the site investigation.
Contaminated land is cleaned up (remediated) in order to prevent significant harm or the possibility of significant harm being caused to a statutory receptor/s, for example people moving into houses built on a former brownfield site.
Statutory receptors and significant harm or the possibility of significant harm are defined in DEFRA Circular 01/2006 (Annex 3) which also includes harm caused by radiation.
For the remediation of brownfield sites guidance is given in planning document PPS 23 Planning and Pollution Control (PDF 939.7kB) to advise the Local Planning Authority on a suitable approach. A hard copy of this guidance is available on request from the Local Planning Authority or Environmental Health.
Additional guidance can be found in the Essex Contaminated Land Consortium's publication: Land Affected by Contamination - Technical Guidance for Applicants and Developers (PDF 573.7kB)
Under the current Government Guidance, liability for historic contamination lies with the polluter of the land (Class A Person). If the polluter cannot be found then the liability rests with the owner/occupier (Class B Person). If a Class B person cannot be found the site is declared an 'orphan site' and responsibility then rests with the local authority.
In general, where a site is being re-developed, the developer pays for the remediation of the land. Environmental guidance is available to small and medium-sized businesses to assist in understanding what needs to be done in order to comply with environmental law through the following link: NetRegs - environmental guidance for your business (external link)
You can download the Essex Contaminated Land Consortium's publication: Guidance on protecting health and the environment from domestic heating oil spills (PDF 443.5kB)
Further information on land contamination can be found through the following links:
Please see our notes on how to access PDF files for more information.
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