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COUNCILS IN ENGLAND and Wales have been making slow progress in identifying and treating areas of contaminated land, a recent report by the Environment Agency has found.

In a review of the progress made since 2000, when a new regime for handling contaminated land became law, the Environment Agency concludes that most councils have inspected less than 10% of the land in their care to identify potentially contaminated sites. The report is based on responses from over 90% of the councils in England and Wales.

It finds that between 2000 and March 2007, councils have identified 781 contaminated sites, though the Environment Agency estimates that there could be as many as 325,000 such sites. However, many of these sites are clustered at a handful of locations – according to reporting rules, every house built on contaminated land is counted as a separate site, even if numerous neighbouring houses are affected.

Of the 781 sites that were determined to be contaminated under part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act, 114 have been remediated by councils, as well as five of the 35 sites designated as ‘special’ which have to be cleared up by the Environment Agency. Most of these sites were remediated through excavation and disposal to landfill; alternative treatment options were more likely to be used at special sites.

Efforts to make the polluter pay for cleaning up contaminated land appear to be only partially successful: according to the Environment Agency, while the liable polluter has been identified at just under half the contaminated sites – 350 in total – only 86 of these are thought to be likely to pay.