Vauxhall's factory at Ellesmere Port is to be one of four plants in Europe that will build the new Astra.
Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Contaminated Land (England) Regulations 2000 provide the legislative framework for the management of contaminated land. Contaminated land is defined in the legislation as:
"any land which appears to the local authority in whose area it is situated to be in such a condition, by reasons of substances in, on or under the land that-
a. significant harm is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused; or
b. pollution of controlled waters is being, or is likely to be, caused."
DEFRA (2006) p.25
For a site to be 'contaminated', a pollutant linkage must always exist. A pollutant linkage requires each of the following to be identified:
- a contaminant
- a receptor
- a pathway capable of exposing a receptor to the contaminant
If there is a break in this pollutant linkage (i.e. there is a source of contamination and a receptor, but no pathway) the site cannot be defined as 'contaminated land'.
