Why are Gasworks a sensitive issue in Contaminated Land Inspections?

Gasworks are of particular concern for local authorities in their contaminated land inspection strategies.

Not only was the historic process of obtaining gas from coal particularly highly polluting but every local authority has a number of these sites within their boundaries. Whilst many larger gasworks are still in use for the storage of modern natural gas, many of the smaller sites closed down following the introduction of North Sea gas in the 1960s. Due to their location within already developed areas, these sites were often redeveloped, many as residential properties, and at the time, there were no real standards in place for investigating and remediating sites.

Contaminants associated with gasworks include coal tars, ammoniacal liquor ('devil liquor'), cyanide compounds, benzene and benzo(a)pyrene, amongst many others. Often waste was either dumped on associated land or stored in underground brick tanks or gasholder bases. When sites were cleared, these features were often left in situ and simply built over, lying in wait for the unwary future purchaser.. Small gasworks in residential areas account for a high proportion of Part 2A sites.

Due to the high potential for gasworks to have caused contamination, and their relative ubiquity, these former sites are always at or near the top of any local authority's prioritisation list for investigation under Part 2A. Consequently, the identification of Gasworks in environmental reports is essential to providing reliable environmental risk assessment.

Small  Gasworks sites were often so small they may not have appeared as clearly in standard 6 inch historical mapping, which is why GroundSure created an additional database extracted from much higher detail 25 inch mapping.  We are using this proprietary database in our conveyancing seach reports to accurately identify these potentially harmful sites.

Our premium Commercial searches and Insight products for Environmental Consultants capture this important data through the inclusion of our extensive historical Ordnance Survey mapping that dates from 1840 to the present day, includes historical maps in colour and comprises the most complete account of historical land use in the UK.

     

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