Groundwater and Waste
Introduction
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The risk to groundwater will vary with the nature of the waste management activity (storage, transfer, recovery, treatment or disposal to landfill) and with the local hydrogeological setting.
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The term ‘waste’ can cover a variety of activities including:
- Storage and handling of waste at the place of production and thereafter;
- Transfer/transport of wastes from one place to another;
- Treatment of wastes to reduce their quantity, hazardousness, and/or facilitate their handling or disposal;
- Disposal of waste (e.g. in landfills and incinerators);
- Remediation of contaminated sites;
- Waste recovery operations such as metals reclamation and the application of waste (e.g. pot ale, paper pulp etc.) to land under the terms of an exemption (listed in Schedule 3, Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (as amended)) from waste management licensing.
There are some ‘waste’ activities that are not covered in this section. This includes the disposal of effluent, the management of agricultural wastes, and waste from mines and quarries.
Waste management activities and the facilities designed to handle such wastes may impact principally on groundwater quality, but can also impact groundwater quantity, e.g. by affecting groundwater flow direction or recharge rates. The engineering activities section and abstraction and resource management section provide further details on this aspect.
Legislation
The main legislation relating to waste and groundwater are listed below:
Guidance
Available SEPA and Scottish Executive guidance on groundwater and waste management is listed below:
For further information on waste and groundwater see sections A and C of SEPA's Groundwater Protection Policy.
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