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Contaminated land in the North West

We work in partnership with local authorities, developers, landowners and industry to help bring land affected by contamination back into beneficial use.

Almost all land has slightly elevated levels of some substances due to its naturally occurring geological constituents or human activities on the site. In most cases, this will not affect the use of the land.

However, we estimate that as many as 100,000 sites in England and Wales may be adversely affected by contamination. Between 5 and 20 percent of these sites may require action to ensure that impacts on the environment and human health are minimised.

At a glance

  • Contaminated land is defined under Part IIA of the Environment Protection Act 1990 as land that is contaminated to such an extent that it poses an unacceptable risk or threat to human health or to the environment. The term "contaminated land" is frequently misused to mean any land that contains contaminants. 
  • All of the local authorities in the North West have published contaminated land strategies. This is the first step towards cleaning up contaminated land in our region.
  • We provide technical expertise to local authorities in identifying sites that meet the statutory definition of contaminated land, as well as managing the investigation of potential Special Sites on their behalf.
  • Some contaminated land sites are identified as Special Sites by the local authorities. These sites then come under our control.  This is not necessarily because they are more contaminated but because we may already be regulating the site, or because we have relevant experience or expertise.
  • There are currently only a small number of Special Sites designated in the North West. We are monitoring several other potential Special Sites which will give rise to further designations if they meet the statutory criteria.

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