2 Remedial Action Plans for Contaminated Land
Land contamination can have adverse ecological, economic, and public health implications on a parcel of land. For that reason, it is always important that you have a site contamination assessment carried out before making any new development on your property. The assessment is not merely carried out to determine whether or not your property is contaminated: it is intended to trigger remedial action should it be revealed that the land or the water below it is contaminated. Based upon the nature of contamination on your land, a remedial action plan will be tailored. Here is a look at two remedial measures that may be taken if your land is found to be contaminated.
Removal
There is a wide range of pollutants that may have found their way on your land including pesticides, weedicides, car oils, lead paints, asbestos, car batteries, and many other hazardous waste items. Should any of these waste items be found to be present on your property, they can be removed or cleaned up either chemically or physically. Physical removal may involve the excavation of contaminated earth and transferring it to a different location for cleanup. Removal by chemical means may occur when you want to test underground water, for example.
Water testing will help reveal if underground aquifers contain any pollutants that may render the water unsafe for direct human consumption, and the assessment report will recommend how the water can be treated should it be found contaminated. There are several ways of treating contaminated water including coagulation-precipitation, reverse-osmosis, aerobic biological treatment, ozonation, etc. Thus, you can choose a suitable method to eliminate pollutants from your property.
Containment
If the nature of contamination on your land is such that it is practically impossible to remove contaminants from the site, the only remaining option would be to contain and manage the contaminants from there, e.g. farm soils contaminated by years and years of fertiliser use. The program should detail what it is that will be monitored, the frequency of monitoring, the tests to be performed, the methods of analysis, and the reporting requirements. It should also specify for how long the review process should last.
With the management program, you can rest easy knowing that the risks associated with the presence of contaminants on your property are being effectively managed. This is because the assessment report will contain findings on how the program works, and its effectiveness.