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Contaminated Land Remediation: Economics v Liability
Author(s) -
BRAITHWAITE P.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
water and environment journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1747-6593
pISSN - 1747-6585
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-6593.1994.tb01159.x
Subject(s) - liability , contaminated land , environmental remediation , land reclamation , constraint (computer aided design) , environmental science , contamination , environmental planning , land use , environmental resource management , waste management , risk analysis (engineering) , business , civil engineering , engineering , accounting , geography , mechanical engineering , ecology , archaeology , biology
Chemical investigations of contaminated land can be expensive and yet still leave the landowner unaware of his/her full environmental liability. An approach to an effective means of planning chemical investigations is described by a case study of a contaminated site near London. This approach limits environmental liability in a cost‐effective manner. One of the main problems encountered in assessing the degree of contamination of land for the purposes of technical design, and ultimately for developer confidence, is the lack of recognized UK standards for acceptable levels of contaminants. Using a second case study relating to a large contaminated site in the Midlands, the paper describes how a set of site‐specific standards, for soil and water, was derived and used to develop a reclamation strategy for an 81‐ha site. The case study also demonstrates the approach which was adopted in handling a large amount of analytical data and other quantitive information needed to produce a set of ‘constraint models’. From these constraint models, the strategy for reclaiming the site has been developed.