Managing Contaminated Land

How does Environment Canterbury manage contaminated land?

The Resource Management Act (RMA 1991) was amended in August 2005. Several of the amendments relate specifically to contaminated land.

Section 30 of the RMA (2005 Amendment) states that regional councils, such as Environment Canterbury, have a function to investigate land for the purposes of identifying and monitoring contaminated land.

These Amendments, combined with the existing requirement of Section 35 of the Act to gather information, indicate that both regional councils and territorial authorities need to record or have access information about contaminated land in order to conduct their function.

Environment Canterbury's management of contaminated land involves four steps:

Step 1: Identification of all sites in the region that have the potential to be contaminated because of their current or historic land use.
Step 2: Prioritising sites, on the basis of the risks they present.
Step 3: Working with site owners to get their sites assessed for risk to human health or the environment.
Step 4: Ensuring that remediation or management occurs at sites that pose significant risks.

Additionally, Environment Canterbury seeks to minimise contamination caused by currently operating sites. Contact a Pollution Prevention Officer for more information. Environment Canterbury is in the process of producing a Contaminated Land Management Strategy to further refine and document our processes, to help us achieve the best environmental outcomes.

What does my territorial authority do?

Territorial authorities have functions related to the use of land. Environment Canterbury is eager to work closely with local councils in order to share the information we have and to develop strategies for the future management of contaminated sites in Canterbury.