It is a site where hazardous substances occur at a concentration sufficiently above background levels to cause an immediate or long-term hazard to human health or the environment.
Experience has shown that sites previously used as industrial, agricultural or horticultural lands are more likely than others to contain areas of contamination. Land can become contaminated when hazardous substances are leaked, spilt or disposed of. Often the contamination was unintentional or occurred despite following recommended management practices. In the past, the use, handling and storage of hazardous chemicals were often of a lesser standard than required today.
Some contaminants break down in the soil very slowly, while some don’t break down at all, so they may be a present on a site for a very long time. Some contaminants pass through the food chain and become concentrated in the tissues of fish, birds, livestock or humans.
If your environment is contaminated your health may be affected by:
Direct contact with contaminated soil (through contact with the ground or breathing in dust)
Consuming food or water (eating food grown on contaminated land or drinking water polluted from runoff into streams or ground water)
As well as endangering your health, hazardous substances can:
- Limit the use of the land
- Cause corrosion to building structures
- Reduce land values.
- Find out about the previous uses of the land, or any neighbouring land
- Check out the HAIL list (Hazardous activities and industries), to see if your site has the potential to be hazardous based on past activities)
- Check with the Gisborne District Council for any information that may be held about the site or area
- Get a site investigation done – the level of risk can only be assessed on a site-by-site basis
- Ask questions of the vendor and real estate agent
The landowner is generally responsible and liable for cleaning up a contaminated site, even if a previous owner caused contamination. It is therefore in the interests of both the vendor and purchaser to investigate the property thoroughly.
Have the land tested by an experienced contaminated site investigator. The Gisborne District Council may be able to advise you of consultants experienced in this work. Otherwise look in the yellow pages under Environmental Consultants. The Council can also advise you how best to manage and clean up a contaminated site.
Your lawyer may be able to advise on ways of managing the sale or purchase of potentially contaminated land, such as asking questions of the vendor and real estate agent or making arrangements over liability for the site and any clean-up that may be needed.
The Council is responsible for regulating discharges of contaminants into the environment. Discharges from contaminated land may require resource consents. Council can also provide advice and information for the public and other government agencies about the safe management of contaminated land.
The list shows the main land uses or activities that typically use hazardous substances that could cause contamination. Whether or not a specific site is contaminated will depend on the past and present management of the hazardous substances. Please be aware that even if a property has been used for an activity or industry that does no appear on the list, it may still be contaminated
- Abrasive blasting
- Acid or alkali plant
- Agrichemical spray contractors
- Airports
- Analysts – commercial analytical laboratory sites
- Asbestos products
- Asphalt or bitumen
- Battery manufacturing or recycling
- Brake lining manufacturers
- Cement or lime manufacturing
- Cemeteries
- Chemical manufacturing
- Coal and coke yards
- Concrete and cement
- Defence works and establishments
- Drum and tank re-conditioning
- Dry cleaning plants
- Electrical transformers
- Electronics – manufacturing, repairing, reconditioning
- Engine reconditioning
- Explosive production or bulk storage
- Fertiliser manufacturing
- Foundry operations
- Gasworks
- Gun, pistol or rifle ranges
- Iron and steel works
- Landfill sites
- Livestock dips or spray races
- Market gardens, orchards or glasshouses
- Metal treatment or coating
- Mining and mineral processing
- Motor vehicle workshops
- Paint manufacturing and formulation
- Pest control
- Pesticide manufacturing
- Petroleum industries
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing
- Port activities
- Power stations and switchyards
- Printing
- Railway yards
- Sawmills
- Scrap yards
- Service stations
- Smelting or refining
- Tannery, fellmongery or hide curing
- Transport depots
- Storage tanks for fuel and chemicals
- Waste storage, treatment or disposal
- Wood treatment or disposal
- Wool, hide and skin merchants
- Any site that has been, or could have been, subject to the migration of hazardous substances present in the soil or water on adjacent sites
- Any other facility or activity that stores, uses or disposes of hazardous substances.
Over time information on the Selected Land Use register will be recorded in Land Information Memoranda (LIMs) and Project Information Memoranda (PIMs). An added bonus of this system will be the protection for property buyers who may be unaware that a site is potentially contaminated. If a site has been identified as falling into Category V, this will become apparent when a buyer’s lawyer has conducted a title search.
A series of four brochures have been developed (available below as downloadable, printable PDFs) on the topics of what you need to know when:
Information includes why contamination is a problem, how to find out if land is contaminated, who is responsible for a contaminated site, regional and unitary council role in contaminated land as well as advice for prospective buyers, sellers, lawyers and valuers.
Contaminated sites can pose risks to both the environment and human health. It is important that we assess the amount of risk posed by a site.
The Ministry for the Environment has developed a rapid risk screening system (PDF) for ranking contaminated sites as being of high, medium or low risk. Using the source-pathway-receptor model, categories are determined by the following factors:
- Source - presence of a significant source of contamination.
- Pathways - through which contamination moves from the source to the receptors.
- Receptors - the plants, animals and/or people that may be adversely affected by the contamination.
Contaminants can move from the source to the receptor via food, air and water (such as contaminated surface water or ground water).
For people the main ways (pathways) contaminants can enter our bodies are by:
- Ingestion (eating or drinking)
- Inhalation (breathing in)
- Direct contact (for example, absorption through the skin).
Sites that are assessed as being high risk will be of the highest priority for remediation work.
Risks associated with contaminated sites can be minimised by breaking the source-pathway-receptor chain. This can be done by:
- Removing the source of contamination (remediation)
- Removing the pathways that allow contaminants to reach receptors (management)
- Removing the receptors (management).
The first approach implies a complete cleanup of a contaminated site (remediation), while the second and third approaches are possible management options. In the case of soil intended for home gardens, remediation is the preferred option.
We can minimise the effects of hazardous substances in our environment by:
- Only using hazardous substances when absolutely necessary.
- Applying safe practice when using and storing hazardous substances.
- Transporting hazardous substances safely.
- Disposing of hazardous substances correctly.
- Call the Gisborne District Council on (06) 867 2049l and ask for a LIM report (Land Information Memorandum). Note there is a charge for this service. Please be aware that Council records are not always complete – a site may be contaminated even if the LIM does not indicate this.
- Have a look at the Ministry for the Environment website at www.mfe.govt.nz Check out the full HAIL list under Contaminated Land Management Guidelines – Schedule A, at www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/hazardous/contaminated/guidelines.html
- Have a look at historical aerial photographs (ask at the Council or contact NZ Aerial Mapping)
- Have a look at the historical certificate of title (Land Information NZ)
- Call the Gisborne District Council and ask about contaminated site files, phone (06)867 2049.