Contaminated land

Specialist advice on the workings of contaminated land regimes and the protection against or management of associated liabilities.

Industrialisation over the last 200 years has led to a significant legacy of contaminated land and waters and associated liability. The implications can be significant for those who own, lease or develop land, use land to carry out industrial processes; or who provide finance for any of these purposes.

We have substantial experience in advising on these implications and protecting against or managing any associated liabilities including advising on:

• Regulatory powers that require clean-up of contaminated land and waters including representing clients faced with regulatory orders
• Civil and criminal liabilities of polluters and owners of contaminated land
• The necessity for environmental audits and appointing specialist environmental consultants
• Cleaning up contaminated land and water including liasing with regulators and affected third parties (eg neighbours and previous owners) and negotiating remediation contracts with specialist contractors
• Advising on liability structures on the acquisition or disposal of land as part of real estate or corporate transactions and on suitable structures for financing such activities
• Offering innovative mechanisms for minimising or transferring liability such as "pie-crust" or surface leases, corporate liability structuring, risk transfer schemes
• Redevelopment and regeneration of contaminated sites and associated planning matters including environmental impact assessment
• Taxation implications of contaminated land eg on subsidies, grants and tax credits and exemptions for carrying out remediation and associated measures such as "landfill" taxes
  

We work with leading environmental consultants who specialise in identifying and assessing and designing remediation solutions for contaminated land.

For more information on how we can help, contact a member of the Environment Group.