Land
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Land and Soil - Environmental Indicators
Site Contamination
Site contamination has been recognised as a major environmental issue since
the 1980s when localised contamination from former industrial land uses
became apparent around the State. The encroachment of residential
development into previously industrialised areas of metropolitan Adelaide, and
general urban consolidation, has led to the conversion of sites previously used
for industrial purposes to more ‘sensitive’ land uses such as residential or child
care centres, which require a safe standard to be met regarding soil quality.
The history of the City as predominantly an area specifically developed for
heavy and hazardous industrial and commercial activities has left a legacy of
soil and water contamination in parts of the City. The historically industrial
areas of Gepps Cross, Kilburn, Wingfield, Port Adelaide, Birkenhead, Taperoo,
Outer Harbor and others, have been home to many “dirty” industries such as
tanneries, foundries, gas works, oil refineries and abattoirs .
There is, therefore, significant potential in the City for redevelopment of historic
‘brownfield’ sites, which are degraded and vacant, or underused industrial areas
that are able to be remediated and redeveloped for more valuable uses. Vigilant
planning control in these cases is imperative to ensure safe ‘brownfield’
redevelopment occurs.
Site contamination legislation
The National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination)
Measure (1999) defines contamination as ‘…..the condition of land or water
where any chemical substance or waste has been added at above background
level and represents, or potentially represents, an adverse health or
environmental impact ’.
In November 2007, the South Australian Parliament passed the
Environment
Protection (Site Contamination) Amendment Act 2007.
This legislation
•
provides a framework and process to assign responsibility to the
appropriate party for site contamination,
•
establishes a statutory auditor accreditation system, and
•
gives the EPA power to retrospectively deal with site contamination.
Associated property and real estate legislation
1
was also amended to ensure
that any information available regarding the condition of a site is made
accessible to the potential purchaser of the site. The new suite of legislation
provides more transparency and accountability for site contamination, based on
the ‘polluter pays’ principle, and also encourages the improved management of
land use activities to prevent contamination occurring in the future.
