Summary and conclusions

Redegørelse om jordforurening 2007

This report is the annual report of the Contaminated Sites Council for the Minister for the Environment on efforts in relation to soil contamination.

The Danish Government’s municipal structural reform entered into force on 1 January 2007. The reform established five new regions and many of the municipalities were merged and given new responsibilities. The new structure has given rise to major challenges in connection with soil contamination.

Like the 2006 report, the 2007 report was characterised by the work on implementing the government municipal structural reform. In 2007, there was a need to prepare new joint strategies with targets for the work of the new regions in the area of soil contamination. It was also a great challenge to implement harmonised work methods, and many resources were spent on purchasing new systems to control and manage soil contamination data. In connection with the reorganisation and co-ordination of the previous IT systems, extensive analysis of data proved necessary. The regions are therefore reviewing their data in order to harmonise out the differences in registration method and remove the double registration of the previous units.

The Contaminated Sites Council recognises the challenges arising from the government municipal structural reform and notes that the data from the regions and the municipalities is generally insufficient. Moreover, it is regrettable that the government municipal structural reform, the change of data systems and the filing system of cases in connection with the reform has led to delayed and incomplete reports.

In 2007, the regions generally prioritised their efforts in the area of soil contamination on the basis of the focus areas of the legislation. As a result, first and foremost, studies and remediation of areas with special drinking water interests have been carried out. Furthermore, studies and remediation have concentrated on areas with sensitive land use in those contaminated sites deemed to have the largest impact on the environment and health.

Soil contamination in numbers

In total about 24,000 localities were mapped and registered with the regional authorities on 31 December 2007. 11,645 localities have been mapped at V2 level (observed soil contamination) whereas 11,295 were mapped at V1 level (knowledge about activities that may have led to soil contamination).

There is a wide range of contamination sources. Petrol and service stations, and other activities involving oil/petrol together with remediation facilities and dump sites continue to represent the largest groups, which cause the mapping at V2 level.

About 50 percent of all localities mapped at V2 level are covered by the focus area of the Soil Contamination Act. There is an almost equal distribution between mapping of residential areas etc., and mapping of areas due to the risk of drinking water contamination.

In 2007, a total of 33 remediation measures were carried out through regional financing. This is a decline compared to previous years. There has been no significant difference between the number of remediation measures at localities with houses and child care institutions and at localities with drinking water interests.

There were 124 major soil contamination cases in Denmark in 2007, i.e. cases where the measures cost more than DKK 10 million. The statement of the major cases shows that there are and have been significant activities in major contamination cases in public focus areas.

In 2007, a commitment for about DKK 31 million was given on the Land Depreciation Programme. Applications for the programme continued in 2007 but the number of applications accepted is continuing to drop compared with previous years. The waiting list as at 31 December 2007 comprised 472 applications for remediation projects, corresponding to a total amount of DKK 482 million. In comparison, the waiting list as at 31 December 2006 was 485 applications, corresponding to a total amount of DKK 499.5 million.

Like in 2006, it was not possible in 2007 to assess the soil volumes that are remedied and deposited in connection with the fulfilment of injunctions and voluntary efforts. In 2005, this figure was about 561,000 tonnes. The reporting of these soil volumes was at a far lower level in 2006 and 2007 than in previous years. Possibly the lower level is due to delayed reports as a consequence of the government municipal structural reform. As it has not been possible to determine a figure for how much soil this delay in reporting data represents, it was not possible to estimate the total volume of soil moved.

In 2007, the municipalities continued their thematic reports on causes for closing water abstraction drillings. In 2007 there were reports about 52 closed drillings. The reasons for closing the drillings are primarily nature-created quality problems and technical problems.

In total at least 605 remediation measures were carried out. 62 remediation measures were publicly financed, many by the Land Depreciation Programme and the Danish Defence. 242 measures are being carried out through the Environmental Pool of the Oil industry, 138 measures fall under the insurance scheme for home oil tanks, and 163 measures are voluntary remediation or remediation activities following injunctions on private persons. As in 2006, the number of voluntary remediation or remediation activities following injunctions was lower than the previous years, although these figures have not been included. Furthermore, as in 2006 the low number of remediation measures must not be regarded as an expression of lower activity in the area, but rather the figure reflects the number of delayed reports.

The total expenditure on soil contamination in 2007 is estimated at about DKK 616 million. Of this amount, total expenditure by the regions represents about DKK 290 million.

The Contaminated Sites Council notes that the regions have not spent the block grant for 2007, which was allocated on the basis of the scope of the soil contamination work. However, considerable amounts for 2008 have been transferred as a consequence of the late launching of a variety of projects.

Initiatives

A committee on movement of soil was set up in spring 2006. The committee has commenced work on changing soil management legislation. The committee's work has so far resulted in guidelines on area classification and a new statutory order on reports about movements of soil which entered into force on 1 January 2008.

In spring 2007, the Region of Southern Denmark and the Ministry of the Environment agreed on activities to prevent contamination in the Kærgård orchard (Kærgård Plantage). The activities include elimination of contamination in and under the two most heavily contaminated of the six quarries at the Grindsted plant. In the rest of 2007, planning and tendering took place. In winter and spring 2008, about 3,000 tonnes of sand and mud was dug up while about 1,000 tonnes was left at a dump for treatment in the autumn.

In 2004, a loan guarantee scheme was set up to be used in a trial period. The loan guarantee scheme provides house owners who are on the Land Depreciation Programme waiting list with the opportunity to take out government-guaranteed interest-only loans with interest grants from the government that correspond to the Nationalbank's lending rate. In this way remediation of a site may be expedited. 15 out of 372 house owners obtained government-guaranteed loans in 2004. The loan guarantee scheme was relaunched in 2008. In June 2008 house owners on the Land Depreciation Programme waiting list were offered a loan through the loan guarantee scheme.

International work

In 2007, the international work focused on implementation of the Environmental Responsibility Directive as well as negotiations on the Draft Directive on Protection of Soil (Soil Framework Directive).

The Danish environment responsibility rules entered into force on 1 July 2008.

The negotiations on the Soil Framework Directive did not lead to adoption, and a date for reopening the negotiations has not yet been fixed.

The consequences of the Water Framework Directive in relation to contamination of surface water and groundwater were not clear in 2007. Since the Soil Contamination Act does not prioritise remediation measures in respect of surface water, there is a need to clarify how these remediation measures should be handled and financed.

Recommendations of the Contaminated Sites Council

The Contaminated Sites Council finds that the Land Depreciation Programme is not meeting its objectives. The waiting list is still too long and the waiting time is currently about 20 years. Even though registrations for the programme were lower in 2007 and 2006 than in the previous years and although the waiting list is stagnant, more funds for the programme should be granted, or alternatively, the programme should be fundamentally re-evaluated.

The Contaminated Sites Council finds that there is still a need to exploit potentials in order to minimise remediation costs and to avoid long and expensive operating times at remediation installations. There is thus still a substantial need to reserve funds for the Technology Programme for Soil and Groundwater Contamination.

It is the view of the Contaminated Sites Council that work should be continued on assessing the various remediation methods in relation to other forms of activity such as monitoring and natural degradation.

In parts of Denmark, especially on Zealand, it is necessary to transport soil that is dug up in connection with building and construction projects across long distances in order for the soil to be placed in a suitable location for final disposal. The Contaminated Sites Council thus suggests that work must be done to come up with solutions that reduce long transport distances.

The Contaminated Sites Council recommends clarification of how to handle contamination which is not covered by the Soil Contamination Act today, but which may be included in the Water Framework Directive.