SLAG heaps, rubbish tips, illegal dumps: the words “contaminated land” seem to conjure up the essence of the 20th-century environmental nightmare. But localised sites are only part of the story: almost all of our planet’s surface is contaminated to some degree by airborne pollution. It is, however, the dramatic and visible localised instances that grip us-and do much of the serious damage to the environment.
Land is contaminated when it contains substances that, when present in sufficient concentrations, may harm humans, animals or the environment. When untreated sites are subsequently used, serious problems can arise. In 1980, reclaimed land…
