Land contamination can affect sites that are dormant, being sold or redeveloped as a result of the legacy of current or historic site/neighbouring site uses. The investigation, assessment and remediation design of such sites is the core capability of Earth Environmental & Geotechnical.
Our staff have worked at board level within several consultancy and remediation practices and have advised many house builders, landowners, solicitors, property consultants at any early stage in the site acquisition process on potential liabilities and development constraints.
Several of our staff have been involved in the formulation of guidance on the investigation of contaminated land and have pioneered the use of quantitative risk assessment modelling when most practitioners routinely used generic standards such as ICRCL 59/83, Kellys Tables or early Dutch Intervention values. The use of modern models (such as CLEA, RISC HUMAN, RBCA) within the framework of a source-pathway-receptor pollutant linkage philosophy allows for cost effective and sustainable decisions to be implemented.
The investigation, assessment and remediation of contaminated land requires an understanding of many different specialist disciplines that allow for a comprehensive and pragmatic development to proceed. These disciplines include geology, hydrogeology, toxicology, risk assessment, soil mechanics and of course an appreciation of the limitations of our understanding of the science and empirical modelling behind the derivation of soil guideline values and risk based remedial targets.
As part of our service we regularly liaise with the Environment Agency and Local Authority Contaminated Land Officers to jointly agree upon the site investigation strategy, remedial design and ultimately satisfactory discharge planning conditions.
Brownfield land and commercial sites frequently have significant geotechnical and environmental issues that need to be fully understood. Developers need a clear understanding of all the risks and a detailed plan of how to mitigate those risks before construction.
From experience, Earth Environmental & Geotechnical knows that having detailed site investigations and a robust remediation strategy is essential for the successful development of brownfield land.
It is much more cost-effective for a developer to deal with the issues before construction starts than to stop construction when underlying issues are found. Or worse still to complete a development when there is an underlying risk to properties or inhabitants.
It is essential to adopt a pro-active risk management regime when developing previously used land or converting commercial premises to domestic dwellings.It may not be obvious that land is contaminated just by looking at it. Sometimes contaminants can be transported distances by ground water. The land may be contaminated from historical industrial waste. Or there may be geotechnical issues which are not visually evident, this is why detailed quantitative risk assessments are always needed to assess if your site has a potential risk or hazard.
