Thousands of sites 'left polluted' by growth of industry

Published on Tuesday 26 May 2009 22:02

UP to 67,000 sites in Scotland could be contaminated as a result of the growth of industry over the past two centuries, a new report has revealed.

The study by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) shows for the first time the scale of the challenge of cleaning up areas polluted by heavy industry.

It says an estimated 82,000 hectares of land over 67,000 sites needed to be assessed for contamination. Pollutants include metals, oils, asbestos, pesticides and other harmful substances.

Assessments have been carried out on 40 per cent of the suspect sites. Only 807 have so far been cleaned up, although Sepa said remedial action would not be needed for them all.

Those areas that have gone through the process of assessment and have been officially designated as contaminated must be put on a public register.

So far, just 13 sites have reached this stage. They include the former Carless oil refinery in Old Kilpatrick, West Dunbartonshire, three former gasworks in Dumfries and Galloway – in Moffat, Lockerbie and Stranraer – and a former Tesco distribution depot in Dundee, where oil leaked from the heating system.

Contaminated land is defined as that which poses an unacceptable risk to health or the environment.

Dealing with land contamination in Scotland is the first attempt in to show the extent of the problem in Scotland.

Martin Valenti, Sepa's principal policy officer for contaminated land and author of the document, said: "This report is designed to provide a baseline of information on how Scotland is dealing with land contamination and from which future progress can be measured.

"The industrial achievements of the last two centuries have invariably left a legacy of land contamination as, in common with other countries, it was established practice to dispose of waste by tipping on the land often, but not always, close to the site of production.

"Poorly managed raw materials, chemicals and fuels can also lead to spills and releases to land."

Laws that came into force in 2000 require local authorities to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land. Action must then be taken to clean the areas up.

The report was prepared by Sepa at the request of the Scottish Government.