Pollution control - contaminated land

• Introduction
• The problem
• 'Pollutant linkage'
• Action required
• Who pays?
• Re-use of brownfield sites
• What the local council does about contaminated land
• Contact us

Introduction

Some land in this country has been contaminated in the past by industries such as:

• gasworks
• tanneries
• chemical works
• landfills

These are often called brownfield sites.

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The problem

Brownfield sites can be a problem for two reasons:

• there may be harmful substances in, on or under the land
• water pollution might be caused by substances at the site

However, brownfield sites do not generally cause a problem unless they are redeveloped for a different use.

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'Pollutant linkage'

Land is only declared 'contaminated' if:

• it contains a source of pollution - the source and
• someone (or something) could be affected by the pollutant - the receptor and
• the pollution can get to the 'receptor' - the pathway

These three elements together are known as the pollutant linkage.

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Action required

If you own or occupy contaminated land now, or you did in the past, you may be responsible for cleaning up the pollution. You may still be responsible for cleaning up the pollution after you have sold the land.

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Who pays?

The law follows the 'polluter pays' principle - the person or organisation that caused or permitted the contamination must pay to have it put right. If that person or organisation is not known, then the current owner of the land may become responsible.

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Re-use of brownfield sites

The approval of an application for redevelopment of these sites will only be granted on condition that any contamination is cleaned up to a standard that makes it suitable for the new use of the land.

You should obtain specialist advice from an environmental consultant or a specialist lawyer before you buy or sell contaminated land. When you buy land in Haringey, the Land Charges department at the local council will tell you if a site has been declared 'contaminated land'.

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What the local council does about contaminated land

The local council is responsible for enforcing the 'contaminated land' legislation. The Council:

• publishes a Contaminated Land Strategy, which says how it will find contaminated sites in its area
• carries out inspections of land that may be contaminated
• finds out who is responsible for putting right the contamination and discusses the problem with them
• formally declares land contaminated
• agrees the necessary action and makes sure it is done
• keeps a Public Register of contaminated land sites, the action that was required to put the problem right and any legal action that has been taken.

The Council is fulfilling its statutory duty by undertaking investigations to determine the likelihood of whether soil has been contaminated on the Ferry Lane estate. Find out more about the Ferry Lane investigation.

In some cases the Environment Agency may take over the regulation of a site from the council, once it has been declared as 'contaminated land'.

You can download Haringey Council's Contaminated Land Strategy from the attached files section at the bottom of this page.

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Contact us

Commercial Environmental Health
Enforcement
Urban Environment
Units 271 - 272
Lee Valley Technopark
Ashley Road
Tottenham
London N17 9LN

Tel 020 8489 5558
Fax 020 8489 5528

Attached Files

Filename	Filetype	Size
contaminated land strategy.pdf	PDF	780K
PDF documents require Adobe Acrobat reader. Please click here to download.

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