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(Jan/Feb edition due early Feb 2010)

December 2009 headlines (issue 36)

EIC publishes free GAC suite
A volunteer group of contaminated land experts has completed publication of generic assessment criteria for 35 contaminants not covered by either Environment Agency soil guideline values or the LQM/CIEH report released earlier in the year.

Defra funding window
The first bidding window for 2010/11 funding under the capital projects programme is now open. Applications for funding for Part 2A projects must be with the department by 29 January.

Durham strategy consultation
Durham County Council has begun a three-month public consultation on its draft contaminated land inspection strategy.

Bedfordshire to fight quarry appeal decision
Central Bedfordshire Council will fight on in its battle with owners Laporte Industries and Degussa UK Holdings to see Fuller’s Earth Quarry in Clophill restored and opened to the public after an enforcement notice was quashed by the Planning Inspectorate at a second inquiry following an appeal to the High Court.

Framework agreement
WYG has signed a three-year framework agreement with Clackmannanshire Council to provide investigation services in order to help the council meet its responsibilities under Part 2A.

Accreditation call from YCLF
“The Corby case has reinforced the view that competency is a crucial issue for land quality practitioners,” a meeting of the Yorkshire Contaminated Land Forum was told. “The judgement criticised the skills and knowledge of the contractors employed by the council and its officers, a clear indication of the crucial need to demonstrate ability to a recognised standard.”

Cherry trees commemorate Leftwich girls
Flowering cherry trees have been planted to commemorate two Northwich children whose deaths were the subject of a contaminated land probe.

VOC guidance project
CIRIA is looking for a research contractor for a project to develop guidance on “remedial and mitigation options for volatile organic compounds”.

A window into Porton Down
An insight into contamination at Porton Down site has been opened by a freedom of information request to the Environment Agency by Francis Brown, who said he unwittingly took part in testing on the Ministry of Defence site and is now unable to work due to illness.

GAC report error
An error was found in the newly-published Environmental Industries Commission-led generic assessment criteria report, which appears in copies of the report downloaded in the first few days following its release.
l www.claire.co.uk/gac

Illegal landfill fine
A farm owner from Scholar Green, Stoke on Trent, has been fined £14,500 for illegally depositing controlled waste on his own land.

Renfrewshire returns to Linwood
Renfrewshire Council has refused to comment on further investigations at the site of the former Sun Iron Foundry in Linwood, two years after it first investigated complaints that black sludge was bubbling to the surface on areas of open ground near a skatepark, sports centre and children’s park.

Halton breaks ground at St Michael’s project
Ground has been broken for further works at the St Michael’s Golf Course site in Widnes, with Halton Borough Council beginning ground and water remediation after gaining £2.47 million in funding under the capital grants scheme.

Nuclear clean up body facing budget cuts
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has issued a response to a Times article reporting the government is “sharpening the axe for Britain’s £4 billion nuclear clean up budget and drawing up plans for big spending cuts at contaminated sites including Sellafield and Dounreay”.

Information requests
Local regulatory services across England and Wales spend around £6 million a year dealing with central government requests for data – roughly half the salary of an extra environmental health officer for every council – according to report by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy for the Local Better Regulation Office.

Developer drive
A drive to attract developers into Ancoats in east Manchester has been initiated by the NWDA. Property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton will market vacant land and property worth over £8 million.

WYG tackles Wrexham landfills
Consultancy White Young Green is investigating two former landfill sites in Wrexham for the county borough council under Part 2A.

Landfills become community forests
Two former landfill sites have been opened as a community woodland following a £1.78 million grant from the Northwest Regional Development Agency. The Southport site underwent months of “intensive reconditioning” to bring it back into use.

Skills framework
Consultation has begun on the Land Condition Skills Development Framework, which will “define the capabilities pertinent to those operating within the brownfield reclamation and regeneration industry”.

Beds sets out sites
Central Bedfordshire has set out its proposals for around 60 sites to take 5,000 homes in the north part of the council’s area over the next fifteen years under its local development framework after a two-year consultation.

Specifying water pipes
Rob Bell looks at the issue of specifying utility pipes on contaminated sites, and finds the industry unhappy with the water industry’s attitude

Ogoniland assessment
An assessment of oil contaminated sites in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta has been launched by the United Nations Environment.

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