Property Effects
Under Part IIA there are two broad categories of property.
Firstly, property in the form of animals or crops:
- crops, including timber;
- produce grown domestically, or on allotments, for
consumption;
- livestock;
- other owned or domesticated animals;
- wild animals which are the subject of shooting or fishing
rights.
Secondly, property in the form of buildings, including any part
below ground level.
Chapter A of the statutory guidance provides a description of what
harm to the above receptors is to be regarded as significant and
these are described as an "animal or crop effect" or a "building
effect" respectively.
Approaches to assessing animal and crop effects arising from
contaminated land are not currently well developed in the UK.
Building effects are more clearly understood. Harm to buildings can
arise from the following:
- migration and accumulation of combustible gas e.g. landfill gas
(although site specific consideration needs to be given as to
whether or not this could constitute a human health effect);
- subterranean fires (e.g. spontaneous combustion of underlying
colliery spoil leading to creation of underground voids and
subsidence);
- expansive slags (leading to ground heave); and
- chemical attack (the performance of building materials used in
contaminated ground may be adversely affected by a wide variety of
aggressive chemicals, including alkalis, acids organic solvents and
inorganic salts such as sulphates and chlorides).
Whilst research and guidance has been developed over the past
few years there is, to date, little in the way of Part IIA specific
guidance on how to go about determining building effects. The
following references may be useful.
"Risks of contaminated land to buildings, building materials
and services: a literature review", Building Research
Establishment (BRE) 1999
"Risk assessment for methane and other gasses in the
ground", Construction Industry Research and Information
Association (CIRIA) Report 152 1995