PENDLE BOROUGH COUNCIL

Developer’s Guide To Contaminated Land

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Introduction

Pendle is experiencing an increasing number of planning applications for developments on previously used land. In many cases these sites are affected by the presence of contamination due to historic industrial processes. The purpose of this guide is to make developers and their advisors aware of what information the Council will require in order to assess an application for planning consent on land which may be affected by the presence of contamination.

The Planning Procedure

The actual or possible presence of contamination is a material planning consideration'. In many circumstances it will be advantageous to determine whether there are likely to be any contamination issues on site prior to submitting an application for planning consent. This may involve a basic historical land use search and site walk over, or on large-scale developments form part of a pre-planning enquiry where any necessary investigations can be determined prior to submitting a planning application. On any site where there is the potential for contamination to be present Planning and Building Control Services will consult with Environmental Health Services. Environmental Health Services is primarily concerned with risks to human health and ensuring that the proposed development will be suitable for use. It also considers other matters that may give rise to disturbance during the development such as smoke, noise, odours and dust. In addition to the planning permission normally required for new buildings or change of use, a project where contaminated land is involved may require planning permission if any of the following conditions apply: • there is on-site disposal of controlled waste; • there is on-site remedial treatment; • engineering works are to be carried out as part of the remedial treatment; • treatment is part of a development for which planning permission is required; or • Ground investigation works are to be carried out. Source: Environment Agency, 2001

When applications for planning consent is received on a previously used site there are a range of possible outcomes: - • Consent is refused • Consent granted without conditions - just directives • Consent granted - conditionally - which will require certain information to be provided in order to discharge the condition, e.g. a Phase 1 Study (a desk study and walkover survey) a Phase 2 Study (a characterisation of the site with comprehensive remediation strategy) and a Post Remediation Validation Report (a summary of remediation works, including documentary evidence of works undertaken).

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The Environment Agency

The Environment Agency is a statutory consulted in England and Wales under the planning process on the matters for which it has regulatory responsibility. The Council will consult with the Environment Agency on applications where pollution of surface water or groundwater is involved, or where the water environment might be at risk of pollution as a result of the development. The Environment Agency also provides advice on applications for development close to or on landfill sites and within flood-plain areas.

Safe Development - Suitable for Use

The UK government has adopted a policy that land should be suitable for use. For example land which has historically been used for industrial purposes and is the subject of a new development proposal for industrial units may not require the same levels of investigation and remediation as a similar site where the proposed end use is residential housing with gardens.

Part IIA

Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which was brought into force on lst April 2000 requires local authorities to identify contaminated land in its area and secure its remediation. Part IIA provides a narrow definition of contaminated land. To fall within this definition the land, when assessed in the context of its current use must be capable of causing either significant harm to human health and other specified receptors or pollution of controlled waters. The Council has published a strategy for the identification of contaminated land in its area, copies of which are available from Environmental Health Services. The narrow definition of contaminated land means that the number of sites that will be determined as contaminated land by the Council is likely to be small. A site that contains contaminants, which in its current use does not have the potential to cause significant harm will fall outside Part IIA. It is government policy that these sites will be dealt with through the planning and development control system as and when they are brought forward for development. In such circumstances the developer must provide the Council with enough information to enable it to decide that the proposed use will be suitable for use. For some sites which are identified as contaminated land under Part IIA redevelopment of the land may be a cost-effective solution for securing remediation. In such circumstances action taken under the planning regime to ensure that land is suitable for use would also satisfy the Part IIA regime and turn a liability into an asset.

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The Developer's Responsibility

When commenting on contaminated land reports and proposed remediation strategies Pendle Borough Council will not accept responsibility for the effectiveness of the design and completion of remediation measures. The responsibility for providing this information remains at all times with the developers and their advisors. Developers should therefore fully appreciate the importance of competent professional advice, supported by sufficient professional indemnity insurance.

The Site Investigation Procedure

The site investigation procedure will identify the potential for contamination and identify possible areas that may require remedial works in order to make a site suitable for use. The site investigation can be undertaken in phases in order that resources can be targeted at the areas that are most likely to be contaminated. The separate phases may be submitted individually as separate reports or as one combined report i.e. Phase 1 or Phase 1 & 2 followed by a post remediation validation report. • the Phase 1 investigation should establish whether there have been any former contaminative uses on the site which have the potential to impact upon the development; • the Phase 2 investigation should determine the nature and extent of contamination and provide details of remedial options, health and safety issues and a detailed work plan; • The Post Remediation Validation Report should provide a summary of remedial works carried out together with relevant documentary evidence and post remediation test results. The site investigation procedure involves specialist technical knowledge and it is essential that competent and experienced personnel who should preferably hold recognised and appropriate qualifications conduct all phases of the site investigation procedure. Where a geotechnical study and a contamination study are combined within one report the consultant should be able to demonstrate that he is competent and has expertise to provide advice on both. In the past Environmental Health Services has received reports submitted on behalf of developers which have not used a proper scientific or appropriate sampling strategy in order to assess risks from land contamination. It is essential that developers base their site investigations in accordance with current good practice. Examples of current good practice can be found in the following documents: • BS 10175:2001 British Standard Institute (2001) Investigation of Potentially Contaminated Sites - Code of Practice, British Standard Institute. London. • Environment Agency (2000) Technical Aspects of Site Investigation (2 Vols.). Research and Development Technical Report P5-06517R. Water Research Centre, Swindon

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• Environment Agency (2000) Guidance for the Safe Development of Housing on Land Affected by Contamination. The Stationary Office. London • Environment Agency (2001) Secondary Model Procedure for the Development of Appropriate Soil Sampling Strategies for Land Contamination. R&D Technical Report PS-066/7R. Water Research Centre, Swindon

The Phase 1 Investigation

This is the first stage of any site investigation and should enable a 'conceptual model' of the site to be produced that provides a clear interpretation of all plausible pollutant linkages at the site. For example figure I below shows a number of plausible pollutant linkages on a petrol filling station. Receptors include humans, controlled waters, wildlife and buildings. Pathways include direct contact, inhalation, off-site migration into watercourses etc. Contaminants of concern include petroleum spirit (including simple aromatics, such as benzene, and additives, such as organo-lead compounds and ethers), diesel and paraffin. The 'conceptual model' produced will depend upon the previous site use and proposed development. In some circumstances there may be a large number of plausible pollutant linkages and in others there may only be a small number.

Figure 1 Possible Pollutant Linkages at a Petrol Filling Station

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The conceptual model should provide a working description of the relevant physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the site including;

Site circumstances - Geology Hydrogeology Ecology Land use – historic, current & proposed

Identifying potential - Sources of contamination Pathways Receptors

The 'conceptual model' developed as part of the Phase I investigation should provide enough detail to determine what if anything should be required as part of a Phase 2 investigation. Documentary evidence such as historical maps, photographs and former site layout etc. should be appended to any report in order that Environmental Health Services can identify how the conceptual model has been produced.

The Phase 2 Investigation

The Phase 2 investigation needs to be based on the 'conceptual model' produced as part of the Phase 1 study and should further characterise the contamination on the site. The Phase 2 investigation may confirm possible pollutant linkages and should provide an appropriate remediation scheme that will ensure safe redevelopment. Each site is unique and should be dealt with on a site specific basis. There may be limitations on the types of investigation due to physical barriers (e.g. where the site is still occupied) or the investigation may have the potential to cause harm to the environment. The Phase 2 investigation may include targeted sampling of suspected 'hot- spots' of contamination or using a statistically valid sampling strategy across the whole site. For further guidance refer to the documents listed on page 3. Whilst no survey can provide 100%, certainty, confidence in the final conclusions increases as the number of samples increases. The number of soil samples should also increase according to the sensitivity of the proposed end-use. However, we will reject reports and require further information, where we are not confident in the conclusions reached for example an investigation that has not been carried out in accordance with current good practice. Good quality assurance and quality control procedures need to be followed during the collection of soil samples. After the samples have been collected they should be sent for appropriate analytical testing at a laboratory that holds a relevant UKAS accreditation for each contaminant. A number of laboratories also take part in the LGC Accreditation Scheme. The purpose of this scheme is to assess the accuracy of the chemical analysis provided by different laboratories using a soil sample with known concentrations of contaminants. The benefit of using a LGC accredited laboratory is increased confidence in the final conclusions. The quality assurance and quality control

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data and limits of detection for all tests carried out should be appended along with the results of the chemical analysis to the Phase 2 report. Experience and consideration of site histories should be used to predict the principal contaminants likely to occur on particular types of sites. The fact that a potential contaminant is not covered by generic assessment criteria (e.g. ICRCL guidelines) is not an acceptable reason for failing to test for a potentially hazardous substance. The former Department of the Environment produced a series of industry profiles that provide details of principal contaminants associated with each particular industry.

Assessing the Risks

In the first instance the significance of each contaminant may be compared against:

• SNIFFER Framework, 2000 • CLEA (Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment) Model • 1993-1996 US Screening Levels • Revised Dutch Intervention Values, 2000

It is important that any guideline values used for assessing the significance of contaminants in, on or under the land should be authoritative and scientifically based. The Phase 2 risk assessment should determine the risk to all-plausible receptors including, human health, the water environment, buildings and ecology. The UK has developed a site-specific risk assessment tool called the Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment Model or CLEA. This model is still being developed and only covers the risks to human health for a limited number of contaminants. It is expected to be developed further in the near future. This model should be used for all the contaminants it covers, for other contaminants and different receptors the SNIFFER model represents a suitable alternative. The ICRCL guidance levels have been phased out and therefore should no longer be used. The Environment Agency has developed a model that assesses the risk posed to groundwater by leaching contaminants. The model known as CONSIM (Contamination Impact on Groundwater: Simulation by Monte Carlo Method) models contaminant mobilisation and transport and is intended to use 3 commonly available ground investigation data. However, not all contaminants may be covered by the above generic guidelines and some generic guidelines may not always be appropriate for assessing potential risks to human health and the wider environment in the United Kingdom. Some allowance may have to be made to reflect assumptions that were made when the guideline values were derived in order to make them more appropriate for UK conditions.

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The Post Remediation Validation Report

It is important that remediation is undertaken in accordance with the proposed remediation strategy, and that accurate documentary evidence is maintained in order that it can be summarised as part of a post remediation validation report. This report should identify actions carried out during the remediation works and methods of validation testing along with documentary records of implementation. This report should summarise the:

• Types of measures - testing (in-situ/lab), monitoring, inspection etc • Number of samples/rate of testing/ monitoring • Supervision during the remediation

The documentary evidence should include copies of waste transfer notes, photographs and results of chemical analysis undertaken during remediation. The Post Remediation Validation Report which should be submitted to the Council at end of any remediation work.

Environmental Health Services will only recommend that the Planning Department discharges the conditions relating to contaminated land once the validation report is accepted. Therefore, delays in providing the necessary information, verifying the remediation, may affect the developers’ ability to sell the property.

Key Points

• It is important to identify the potential for contamination to be present at an early stage in order that unexpected costs and delays can be avoided later should a potential problem be identified during development works. • Contaminated land and the potential for it requires specialist advice from a suitably qualified consultant. • The Phase 1 investigation should produce a conceptual model that characterises all plausible pollutant linkages. This will form the basis of any subsequent work undertaken as part of a Phase 2 investigation. • All site remediation works should be fully documented and summarised as part of a post validation report to Borough of Pendle Council on completion of the ground works.

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Useful Contacts

Contaminated Land Officer Pendle Borough Council Environmental Health Services Booth Street Nelson Lancashire BB9 7PX Tel: 01282 661199 Fax 01282 662027 Email [email protected]

Environment Agency Lutra House Dodd Way Walton Summit Bamber Bridge Preston Lancashire PR5 8BX Tel: 08708 506506 Fax: 01772 627730 www.environment-agency.gov.uk

DEFRA 3/B4 Ashdown house 123 Victoria Street London SW1 E 6DE Tel: 020 7944 5287 Fax: 020 7944 5279 www.defra.gov.uk

British Standards Institute 389 Chiswick High Road London W4 4AL Tel: 020 8996 9001 Fax: 020 8996 7001 www.bsi-global.com

SNIFFER

www.sniffer.org.uk

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Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Victoria House Ormskirk Road Preston PR1 1HH Tel: 01772 836200

Planning and Building Control Services Nelson Town Hall Market Street Nelson Lancashire BB9 7LG Tel: 01282 661661 Fax: 01282 661601

The National House Building Council Buildmark House Chiltern Avenue Amersham Bucks HP6 5AP Tel: 01494 434477 Fax: 01494 728521 www.nhbc.org.uk

CIRIA 6 Storey's Gate Westminster London SW1 P 3AU Tel: 020 722 8891 Fax: 020 7222 1708 www.ciria.org.uk

Water Research Council Frankland Road Swindon SN5 8YF Tel: 01793 865000 www.wrc.org.uk

LGC Queens Road Teddington TW11 OLY Tel: 020 8943 7000 Fax: 020 8943 2767 www.lgc.co.uk

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