Contaminated Land - Managing the Risk Signatures removed from electronic version Submitted by... Peter Wigley Nominated Responsible Manager Approved by... Tom Stevenson Chairman, Civil Engineering Subject Committee Authorised by... John Mitchell Controller, Safety Standards Synopsis Sets out the requirements for managing the risk from contaminated land. This document is the property of Railtrack PLC. It shall not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the Controller, Safety Standards, Railtrack PLC. Published by Safety & Standards Directorate Railtrack PLC Floor 2,Fitzroy House 355 Euston Road London NW1 3AG Copyright 1995 Railtrack PLC
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Page 1 of 11 Contents Section Description Page Part A Issue record 2 Responsibilities and distribution 2 Compliance 2 Health and Safety Responsibilities 2 Supply 2 Part B 1 Purpose 3 2 Scope 3 3 Definitions 3 4 Principles 4 5 Competency 4 6 Preliminary Assessment of Risk 4 7 Land Reported to be Contaminated 6 8 Land Being Considered for Disposal or Leasing 7 9 Records 7 Appendices A Contaminative Uses of Land 9 B Decision Process in Contaminated Land Investigation 10 C Bibliography 11 R A I L T R A C K 1
Page 2 of 11 Withdrawn Document Part A Issue record This standard will be updated when necessary by distribution of a complete replacement. Amended or additional parts of revised pages will be marked by a vertical black line in the adjacent margin. Issue Date Comments 1 Nov 95 Supersedes GC/TT0141 Contamination of Land which is now withdrawn. Responsibilities and distribution This standard shall be complied with by all persons who are responsible for the development, leasing, disposal or maintenance of land owned by Railtrack and by those persons who are responsible for purchase of land on behalf of Railtrack. Compliance The provisions of this are mandatory and full compliance must be achieved by 6 April 1996. Health and Safety Responsibilities In authorising this Standard, Railtrack PLC makes no warranties, express or implied, that compliance with all or any of s is sufficient on its own to ensure safe systems of work or operation. Each user is reminded of its own responsibilities to ensure health and safety at work and its individual duties under health and safety legislation. Supply Controlled and uncontrolled copies of this standard must be obtained from The Catalogue Secretary, Safety and Standards Directorate, Railtrack PLC, Floor 2, Fitzroy House, 355 Euston Road, London NW1 3AG. 2 R A I L T R A C K
Page 3 of 11 Part B 1 Purpose This defines the minimum requirements for managing the risk to Railtrack from contaminated land. 2 Scope This applies to: all land owned by Railtrack where development, reclamation or construction works are proposed; all land being considered for purchase or lease by Railtrack; all land owned by Railtrack reported, or found, to be contaminated; all land being considered for disposal or leasing by Railtrack; all persons responsible for developing, maintaining, leasing, or disposing of land owned by Railtrack; all persons responsible for purchasing or leasing land on behalf of Railtrack. 3 Definitions Contaminated Land Land that because of its nature, current or former uses contains substances that have the potential to cause harm to persons or damage to property or the environment. Ground Investigation is a planned and managed sequence of activities carried out to determine the nature and distribution of contaminants on and below the surface of land that has been identified as contaminated. These activities include identification of the principal hazards, design of sampling and analysis programmes, collection and analysis of samples and reporting of results for further assessment. Preliminary Review The sequence of activities, principally the collection and examination of information from records and site reconnaissance, the results of which determine whether a site is likely to be contaminated and may require further Ground Investigation. Railtrack Railtrack PLC which is incorporated as a registered company in England and Wales as No. 2904587. Railtrack Director's Nominee (RDN) The Railtrack manager having appropriate qualification and/or experience with delegated responsibility for all or part of the infrastructure including land and property within a defined area or discipline. R A I L T R A C K 3
Page 4 of 11 Withdrawn Document 4 Principles The safety risk to Railtrack from contamination of land is assessed before purchase, reclamation, development, leasing or disposal. All land reported or found to be contaminated is entered into a records system. All persons appointed by Railtrack to assess and manage the risk from contamination are competent to do so. 5 Competency The appropriate Director within Railtrack must ensure that the responsibilities of all persons engaged in the assessment of contamination and those involved in the purchase, reclamation, development, leasing or disposal of land are clearly defined in writing and understood by those persons. The skill, expertise and training of the persons carrying out the duties must be related to the nature and extent of the contamination of land. This competency must be acknowledged by the judgement of the manager making the appointment. 6 Preliminary 6.1 Land where Purchase, Redevelopment, Reclamation or Assessment Construction Works are Proposed of Risk 6.1.1 Preliminary Review The Railtrack Directors Nominee (RDN) must give consideration to commissioning a Preliminary Review in all cases where land is being purchased, redeveloped, reclaimed, leased or used for construction works where the presence of contaminated land may cause harm to persons, property or the environment or endanger the safe operation of the railway. Guidance on the types of land use that may have caused contamination is given in Appendix A of this. 6.1.2 The Preliminary Review must include: i) consideration of the following to the extent that is reasonably practicable: a) whether contamination of the site is likely to have arisen as a result of any of the uses of land listed in Appendix A; b) the history of the site, details of its owners and occupiers; c) previous usage, including the processes and their locations, the raw materials, the products, waste residues and methods of disposal; d) the layout of the site above and below ground at each stage of its development, including roadways, storage areas and other hardcover areas, and the presence of any extant buildings, pits and services, e.g. gas, water, electricity, oil pipe lines, drains and sewers. e) the presence of waste disposal tips, abandoned pits and quarries, with or without standing water; f) mining history including shafts and roadways (worked seams); 4 R A I L T R A C K
Page 5 of 11 g) information on geology and hydrogeology, including the presence of groundwater and surface water; h) whether the site may have been subject to contamination as a result of any activities on adjacent land; i) details of any previous investigation(s) into land contamination; j) details of any event which may have given rise to contamination; k) nature of adjoining land uses; l) the presence of culverts, manholes and confined spaces where the build up of gases could occur. ii) assessment of the likelihood of contaminants being present together with details of these contaminants and the locations of possible high concentrations ( hot spots ) of contaminants. iii) assessment as to whether or not contamination is likely to cause an unacceptable risk. NOTE - There may be circumstances where the contaminant is buried and poses no hazard unless it is disturbed (e.g. buried asbestos boiler lagging). In these circumstances there may be strong reasons for leaving such contaminants undisturbed and only considering site remedial action if and when the site is sold, when the action taken can be appropriate to the future use of the site. 6.1.3 Where the risk from the contamination is assessed as being unacceptable the following must be considered before proceeding further: a) carrying out a Ground Investigation; b) eliminating or reducing risk to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP); c) abandoning the proposals for change in use or ownership. 6.1.4 The RDN must decide whether the purchase, leasing, redevelopment, reclamation or construction works is to proceed or whether a further Ground Investigation is necessary in accordance with Section 6.2. 6.1.5 Where a decision is made to proceed without a further Ground Investigation, the RDN must specify any safety requirements necessary as a result of the findings of the Preliminary Review. R A I L T R A C K 5
Page 6 of 11 Withdrawn Document 7 Land Reported to be 7.1 Contaminated 6.2 Further Ground Investigation of Land 6.2.1 If, after a Preliminary Review, a Ground Investigation is considered necessary to identify contamination levels and locations, only persons qualified and experienced in such work shall be employed. 6.2.2 The RDN must provide the person carrying out the Ground Investigation with a copy of the Preliminary Review. 6.2.3 The RDN must consider the results of the Ground Investigation and assess the potential impacts and risks before taking further action. Further expert advice may be necessary. 6.2.4 When a decision is taken to proceed with the change in use, appropriate action must be taken to ensure that control measures are in place to prevent contamination or further contamination of the land during construction and/or subsequent use. 6.3 Guidance on the investigative sequence is summarised in Appendix B. The RDN must arrange for land owned by Railtrack and reported to be contaminated to be recorded and entered into a records system maintained and updated by Railtrack. 7.2 Where land is reported to be contaminated or potentially contaminated, the RDN must consider carrying out further investigations as set out in Section 6.1 of this. 7.3 Where the contamination is confirmed and may cause harm to persons, property or the environment or endanger the safe operation of the railway, consideration must be given to: eliminating or reducing the risk from the contamination to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP); monitoring sites where appropriate; need for warning notices. 7.4 Where land is found to be uncontaminated, the RDN must arrange for this to be recorded in the records system identified in Section 7.1 of this. 6 R A I L T R A C K
Page 7 of 11 7.5 The RDN must ensure that procedures are in place to advise all persons and neighbours with interests or equipment in the locality of the areas where contamination has been found to be present. 8 Land Being Railtrack shall consider carrying out a risk assessment when any land is Considered for being considered for disposal or leasing. Disposal or Leasing 9 Records 9.1 In addition to the requirements of Sections 7.1 and 7.4 of this Railway Group Standard, the RDN must arrange for records of the following to be kept: all decisions and their justification relating to the assessment of risk from contaminated land; all decisions and their justification relating to eliminating, reducing or monitoring the risk from contaminated land; results of all Preliminary Reviews and Ground Investigations whether or not contamination is identified. 9.2 Where land is reported and/or found to be contaminated the following minimum data must be entered into the records system: sufficient information to enable the land to be identified; a description of any known contaminative use to which the land is being or has been put, together with an indication of the timescales involved; details of contaminants known to be present; the date on which particulars in relation to the land were first entered into the records system together with the dates of any amendments or additions; results of all Preliminary Reviews and Ground Investigations whether or not a risk from contaminated land is identified; details of any remedial works undertaken. R A I L T R A C K 7
Page 8 of 11 Withdrawn Document Appendix A Contaminative Uses of Land (DoE List in consultative document July 1992) The list of Contaminative Uses of Land given below is a revised list prepared by the DoE in July 1992 and replaces an earlier, more comprehensive, one. This revised list has some notable omissions and exclusions of substances which are known to cause contamination but the extent will vary from site to site depending on local conditions, how well the site was operated and accidental spillages, etc. 1. Manufacture of gas, coke or bituminous material from coal. 2. Manufacture or refining of lead, or steel or an alloy of lead or steel. 3. Manufacture of asbestos or asbestos products. 4. Manufacture, refining or recovery of petroleum or its derivatives, other than extraction from petroleum-bearing ground. 5. Manufacture, refining or recovery of other chemicals, excluding minerals. 6. Final deposit in or on land of household, commercial or industrial waste (within the meaning of section 75 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1990) including deposition by accident or vandalism, but excluding waste consisting of ash, slag, clinker, rock, wood, gypsum, railway ballast, peat bricks, tiles, concrete, glass, other minerals, dredging spoil or where the waste is used as fertiliser or to condition the land in some other beneficial manner. 7. Treatment at a fixed installation of household, commercial or industrial waste (within the meaning of section 75 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1990) by chemical or thermal means. 8. Use as a scrap metal store within the meaning of section 9(2) of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act, 1964 c.69. Note: Exclusions from the DoE list are ash, slag and clinker, which are often present in large quantities on railway sites and can contain high levels of heavy metals and other contaminants. Notable omissions from the list are: a) industrial uses of the manufactured products listed in 1 to 5 above; b) most operations involving timber especially preservation of timber; c) mining and extraction of most minerals; d) abattoirs and tanneries; e) warehouse and storage areas, including railway sidings; f) locomotive depots and freight terminals. 8 R A I L T R A C K
Page 9 of 11 Decision Process in Contaminated Land Investigation Appendix B A site is to be considered for purchase, reclamation, redevelopment or construction works or disposal Will the presence of contamination cause a risk? No Yes Carry out preliminary review Is contamination likely to be present? No Yes Is contamination likely to cause a risk? No Yes Carry out Ground Investigation Is contamination likely to cause a risk? No Abandon Works Yes Eliminate or reduce risk Proceed with change taking appropriate precautionary measures Enter site details into record system if any investigations are carried out R A I L T R A C K 9
Page 10 of 11 Withdrawn Document Appendix C Bibliography Draft for Development: Code of Practice for the Identification of Potentially Contaminated Land and its Investigation, DD175:1988, London, BSI. Interdepartmental Committee on the Redevelopment of Contaminated Land Guidance Note 59/83 (2nd Ed.)(1987): Guidance on the Assessment and Redevelopment of Contaminated Land. CAIRNEY,T (1987): Reclaiming Contaminated Land, London, Blackie. Interdepartmental Committee on the Redevelopment of Contaminated Land Guidance Note 61/84 (2nd Edition)(1986): Notes on the Fire Hazards of Contaminated Land. Property Clearance Manual. DoE. Draft Industry Profile: Engineering Works: railway engineering works. DoE. Draft Industry Profile: Railway Land. Construction of new buildings on gas-contaminated land. BR 212. Building Research Establishment, Watford, 1991. ISBN 0 85 125513 2. Contaminated land: assessment and redevelopment. Technical communications (Publishing) Ltd Contaminated land: the development of contaminated land: professional guidance. Institution of Environmental Health Officers, London, ISBN 0 90 010338 8. Contaminated land and land remediation: guidance on the issues and techniques. Chemical Industries Association, London, 1993. Development of contaminated land. DoE Circular 21/87. HMSO, London, 1987. ISBN 0 11 752025 X. Protection of workers and the general public during development of contaminated land. HS(G)66, HSE Books, Sudbury, 1992. ISBN 0 11 885657 X. Remedial processes for contaminated land. Institution of Chemical Engineers, Rugby, 1993. ISBN 0 85 295310 0. Croner s Environmental Management. 10 R A I L T R A C K
Page 11 of 11 CIRIA Publications The Construction Industry Research and Information Association have published a number of reports relating to contaminated land:- SP101 SP102 SP103 SP104 SP105 SP106 SP107 SP108 SP110 SP111 SP112 Introduction & Guide Decommissioning, decontamination and demolition Site investigation and assessment Classification and selection of remedial methods Excavation and disposal Containment and hydraulic measures Ex-situ remedial methods for soils, sludges and sediments In-situ methods of remediation Special situations Planning and management Policy and legislation R A I L T R A C K 11