Assisting Council to meet its duties under the Environment Protection Act by understanding potential risks to human health and the environment.
Landserv was engaged to review and advise on the potential risk to human health and the environment associated with 1,550 Council owned and managed sites. The review’s objective was to assess for Potentially Contaminated Land (PCL) and to assist the council to comply with the Environment Protection Act 2017.
This project entailed a systematic review of EPA databases, publicly available information, aerial images and Council’s database including its GIS Software Spectrum Spatial Analysis (SSA) system. The probability of each site containing contamination was assessed and a procedure developed to visually present the data on Council’s SSA system using a ‘traffic light approach’. Landserv’s approach allowed for multiple lines of evidence to support the probability classification for each site.
The portfolio risk review allowed council to make informed decisions about the further investigation (and possible other management measures) of these site in order of priority.
Benefits
- A cost-effective approach to assessing an extensive portfolio of properties
- Identification of sites at risk of containing Potentially Contaminated Land
- A visual database approach that informs Council, allowing management of Potentially Contaminated Land and minimisation of environmental risk
- Preliminary risk assessment to meet several requirements of the new Environment Protection Act 2017 (EP Act)
- Including the need to ‘use and maintain systems’ for identifying and managing Potentially Contaminated Land
