HOME owners in Britain will soon be able to buy individually tailored
reports detailing the risks their property faces from subsidence, flooding,
earth movements and seepage from underlying rocks of the radioactive gas
radon.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) is compiling a vast computerised database
of potential geological hazards from field surveys gathered over the past 150
years.
“It does the job that geologists used to do by poring over maps taken from
drawers,” says Poul Strange, principal geologist at the BGS.
The system—known as the Address Linked Geological Inventory—is
being launched for residents of the Bristol area this week. The BGS intends to
extend it to greater London by August. If the public responds well to the
service, it will eventually become available across the whole of Britain. Each
report will cost less than £30.
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