CONTAMINATED LAND AND RISK ASSSESSMENT: THE BASICS Necessary Steps Prior to Remediation and Development

Co-incident with the onset of the 2000 – 2006 NDP, the skills and complexities required to communicate risk associated with contaminated land to the satisfaction of the competent authorities have risen considerably. Greater pressures for the redevelopment of derelict and contaminated land are occurring in the major cities in Ireland such as Dublin, Cork, and Limerick. Larger towns such as Kilkenny or Youghal require the remediation of former town gas facilities to make way for new commercial developments. The application of the risk assessment philosophy to contaminated land cleanup in Ireland has increased due to the EPA’s involvement in contaminated land/risk assessment networks, such as CARACAS and CLARINET, as well as an overall increasing awareness of risk assessment at an EU level. In the UK there has been Government policy to promote redevelopment of brownfield sites, which has been comprehensively supported by a large suite of documentation and guidance issued internationally (UK EA, US EPA, etc.). This paper summarises the most useful UK EA documents regarding risk assessment procedures and arising remedial strategy. In particular this paper urges that contaminated land specialists in Ireland should implement the Investigation of Contaminated Sites- Code of Practice (BS 10175:2001). Furthermore, it is considered best practice that all contaminated land remedial strategy reports detail a conceptual site model (CSM). The main purpose of this paper is to assist environmental consultants, engineers, hydrogeologists, and contaminated land specialists, in reporting remedial strategy and hence achieve faster regulatory decisions at the EPA and Local Authorities, for the remainder of the NDP period, and beyond 2006