Redegørelse fra Miljøstyrelsen, 4/2005 – Redegørelse om jordforurening 2004

Redegørelse om jordforurening 2004

Summary and conclusions

This investigation is the annual report from the Contaminated Sites Council to the Minister for the Environment, presenting efforts and activities in the field of soil contamination.

On 31 December 2004, a total of almost 20,000 sites had been listed/registered by the regional authorities. 9,317 sites were listed at knowledge level 2 (established soil contamination, referred to as V2 in the following). 9,036 were listed at knowledge level 1 (knowledge of activities that may have caused soil contamination, referred to as V1 in the following).

In 2004 the number of sites listed at V2 increased by 1,019 and the number of V1 sites increased by 1,358. A total of 739 sites were removed from the register in 2004.

A range of different sources has contributed to contamination of the sites. Petrol and service stations and other activities involving oil/petrol, together with dry-cleaning establishments, make up the largest groups of causes for listing at V2 in 2004.

Listing is still based primarily on point sources. Areas contaminated by diffuse sources are listed almost exclusively at V2, most often in connection with investigation of a point source. In 2004, 95 sites were listed because they were contaminated by diffuse sources. Investigations indicate that many old urban areas have been contaminated by diffuse sources. However, the Contaminated Sites Council still finds that the first priority for the regional councils is to complete listing of more severely contaminated point sources, before addressing diffuse contamination.

The regional councils have given highest priority to listing, supplementary investigations and clean-up/remediation measures in the special target areas designated under the Contaminated Soil Act, i.e. areas with special drinking water interests, abstraction areas for public water supply plants, and areas with housing, children's institutions (e.g. daycare facilities) or public playgrounds. This means that the intentions of the legislation are being complied with.

About half of the sites listed at V2 are covered by the target areas under the Contaminated Soil Act. The distribution between listing of areas with housing etc. on the one hand, and areas listed because of the risk of contamination of drinking water interests on the other, is almost equal. 38% of the areas listed in 2004 were used for housing, children's institutions or public playgrounds, while 27% were located in areas with special drinking water interests, and 22% were located in areas with drinking water interests.

In 2004, 52 remediation projects financed by the counties were carried out. This means that the total number of remediations financed by regional authorities and local authorities remains at the same level as previous years. The measures financed by the counties are dominated by remediation in housing areas and children's institutions etc., with less remediation for protecting groundwater.

Overall, in 2004 the counties have afforded special priority to investigations. However, resources were also increased in 2004 for projecting and remedial measures in 2004. On the basis of county budgets for 2005, the Contaminated Sites Council expects that activity related to projecting and remedial measures will increase further, because an additional amount of DKK 33 mill. has been reserved, compared to 2004. Activities relating to registration and investigations are expected to fall slightly, while operation and monitoring are expected to increase in 2005.

In 2004 an amount of DKK 38 mill. was committed under the Land Depreciation Programme. Interest in the Programme was strong in 2004, however much smaller than in 2003. As at 31 December 2005, 500 applications for remediation projects were pending, corresponding to an amount of DKK 464 mill. By comparison, on 31 December 2003, 372 applications were pending, corresponding to an amount of DKK 364 mill.

The Contaminated Sites Council finds that the Land Depreciation Programme is not meeting its objectives. Interest in the Programme has been far larger than the amounts available under the Programme. In the longer term, the Programme should be revised.

Because of the large number of applications pending, a loan guarantee scheme was established for a trial period in 2004. The Council recommends that this scheme be continued, because it finds that it is a good opportunity for house owners to accelerate action to clean up soil on their property. It is estimated that the scheme is used by house owners who are faced with an acute need to clean up their property.

In December 2003, the Minister for the Environment submitted a report on the Contaminated Soil Act to the Environment and Planning Committee of the Danish Parliament. The report emphasised that any inconvenience to the public caused by the registration system of the Contaminated Soil Act must be limited. Therefore, the report proposes a number of initiatives, including for example loans guaranteed by the State for land owners who do not wish to wait for remediation carried out by the authorities or the 2004 extension in time limits for applications related to the soil contamination area from six months to one year. A working group has also prepared some recommendations for criteria for the registration of sites with contaminated soil.

Adoption of the Soil Contamination Act extended the responsibilities of the local authorities. One of their new tasks relates to notification of soil transport and supervision of the duty to take action. In addition to this, the tasks relating to improvement notices, consultancy services and assistance in registration work carried out by the counties have increased.

The total amount of soil that was cleaned and stored in connection with remediation at registered properties or for the purpose of avoiding registration is estimated to be approx. 631,000 tonnes. Because of the great uncertainty associated with determining the amount, type, and final deposit location of soil, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency carried out a project under the Technology Programme for Soil and Groundwater Contamination, in order to clarify these parameters. The project was completed in the beginning of 2004 (Environment Project 886).

In 2004 the local authorities continued their theme reports on causes for closure of water abstraction wells. Of the 110 wells closed in 2004, xenobiotic substances accounted for 5%, pesticides for 39%, and nitrate for 7% of cases.

The total number of remediations in 2004 is estimated at a minimum of 1,132. Of these, 76 were financed by the public sector, including the Land Depreciation Programme. Furthermore, 429 were completed under the Danish Oil Industry's Association for Remediation of Retail Sites, 180 fell under the insurance scheme for oil tanks at houses, while the rest were voluntary remediations or remediations following improvement notices served on private individuals. Total expenditure on soil contamination is estimated at DKK 740 mill.

Financing by the counties, which reaches DKK 130 million, is still significantly higher than the amount that was agreed with the government in 1996.

The Contaminated Sites Council finds that there is a great need to exploit the potential for minimising the costs of remediation. There is still a substantial need to reserve funds for the Technology Programme for Soil and Groundwater Contamination. The Contaminated Sites Council will discuss the possibilities for enhancing the dissemination of results from the Technology Programme, thus ensuring that projects do in fact meet the objective of reduced costs.

The Contaminated Sites Council finds that efforts must be made to increase opportunities for recycling soil. The Council finds that, soon after reporting by the Soil Contamination Group in December 2005, work should be initiated to amend the Recycling Order. In this connection access to implement recycling projects should be promoted, with due regard to the protection of existing or potential water catchment areas. There is also a need to strengthen knowledge on the large quantities of soil being transported, seen in relation to volume, final disposal and contaminants, including an assessment of the extent of current and future control measures.

According to the Danish Construction Council (Dansk Byggeri), the presentation in section 11.1 of the rules on soil transport is not indicative of the actual situation in Denmark. Therefore, the Council has made a separate statement, cf. Annex D.

The Contaminated Soil Council is aware that existing data on closure of water abstraction wells are insufficient. The Council will consider what initiatives can be taken to improve the data basis.