Redegørelse fra Miljøstyrelsen, 1/2005 – Redegørelse om jordforurening 2003

Contaminated Sites Annual Report 2003

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 1 January 2004, a total of just less than 17,000 sites had been listed/registered by the regional authorities. 8,298 sites were listed at knowledge level 2 (established soil contamination, referred to as V2 in the following), and 7,678 were listed at knowledge level 1 (knowledge of activities that may have caused soil contamination, referred to as V1 in the following). In addition, the local authorities have reported a total of 1,026 sites to the counties, but the counties have not yet decided on relevant listing for these sites.

In 2003 the number of sites listed at V2 increased by 1,085, and the number of V1 sites increased by 1,868. A total of 645 sites were removed from the register in 2003.

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 2003.

Listing is still based primarily on point sources. Areas contaminated by diffuse sources are listed only to a limited extent, and only at V2, most often in connection with investigation of a point source. However, in 2003 a total of 82 sites contaminated by diffuse sources have been listed, including additions of contaminated filling soil. Investigations indicate that many old urban areas have been contaminated by diffuse sources. The Contaminated Sites Council agrees with the decision of the counties to accord a lower priority to listing these areas until listing of the more severely contaminated point sources has been completed.

The counties 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.

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 2003 were used for housing, children's institutions or public playgrounds, while 24% were located in areas with special drinking water interests, and 27% were located in areas with drinking water interests.

In 2003, 52 remediations financed by the counties were carried out. In addition to this, the Municipalities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg took remedial action at 42 children's institutions in 2003, as one of their primary tasks as local authorities. This means that the total number of remediations financed by county authorities and local authorities remains at the same level as previous years. The measures financed by the counties are equally distributed between on the one hand remediation in housing areas and children's institutions etc., and on the other remediation for protecting groundwater.

The counties have assessed 6,688 of the 8,298 sites listed at V2. 58% of the sites assessed are covered by the target areas under the Contaminated Soil Act.

Overall, in 2003 the counties have afforded special priority to investigations, while activities relating to preventive measures have decreased, and are 25% under that budgeted for 2003. On the basis of county budgets for 2004, the Contaminated Sites Council expects that activity related to investigations will increase further, while preventive measures will intensify again in 2004.

In 2003 an amount of DKK 31 million was committed under the Land Depreciation Programme. Interest in the Programme was strong in 2003, and this means that as at 1 January 2004, 372 applications for remediation projects were pending, corresponding to an amount of DKK 361 million. By comparison, on 1 January 2003, 205 applications were pending, corresponding to an amount of DKK 171.4 million. The increase continued in 2004, such that by the end of September the number of applications pending corresponded to DKK 462 million.

On 11 December 2003, the Minister for the Environment gave 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 6 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 to 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 453,000 tonnes. This is a smaller amount than the estimates for the previous years. 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 2003 the local authorities continued their theme reports on causes for closure of water abstraction wells. Of the 94 wells closed in 2003, xenobiotic substances accounted for 7%, pesticides for 30%, and nitrate for 1% of cases.

The total number of remediations in 2003 is estimated at a minimum of 1,080. Of these, 111 were financed by the public sector, including the Land Depreciation Programme and remediation financed by local authorities at children's institutions. Furthermore, 298 were completed under special programmes, primarily the Danish Oil Industry's Association for Remediation of Retail Sites, 193 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 almost DKK 652 million.

In the period from 2000-2002, there was an extraordinary block grant of DKK 10 million annually, which has now ceased. Financing by the counties, which reaches DKK 100 million, is still significantly higher than the amount that was agreed with the government in 1996.

The Contaminated Sites Council finds that there is still a great need to minimise the costs of remediation, and proposes that more money is channelled into the Technology Programme for Soil and Groundwater Contamination.