Overview

'Contaminated land' is used in general terms to describe land polluted by:

• heavy metals, eg arsenic, cadmium and lead
• oils and tars
• chemical substances and preparations, eg solvents
• gases
• asbestos
• radioactive substances

Legal definition

Contaminated land is defined legally as land where substances are causing or are likely to cause:

• significant harm to people or protected species
• significant pollution of surface waters or groundwater

This definition refers to contamination caused by past uses of sites such as:

• former factories
• mines
• steelworks
• refineries
• landfills

Read Contaminated Land: statutory guidance.

Radioactive land

Land is defined as radioactive when a person could be harmed by spending time on land where radioactivity is present.

Special sites

Some types of contaminated land are classed as special sites. This includes land that:

• seriously affects drinking waters, surface waters (for example lakes and rivers) and important groundwater sources
• has been, or is being, used for certain industrial activities, such as oil refining or making explosives
• is being or has been regulated using a permit issued under the integrated pollution control or pollution prevention and control regimes
• has been used to get rid of waste acid tars
• is owned or occupied by the Ministry of Defence
• is contaminated by radioactivity
• is a nuclear site

Once a local council has decided that an area is a special site, it's regulated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).