Bringing Sustainable Management of Contaminated Sites into Practice – The Role of Policy and Regulations - Dealing with Contaminated Sites: From Theory Towards Practical Application - page 1022

quality. So, these pressures should be addressed over longer time periods. On the
other hand, many urban soils and sediments are already heavily affected. Prevention
should stop further deterioration and the risks of the currently contaminated sites
should be adequately managed.

23.2.2 Prevention of Contamination and Management
of Contaminated Sites

Although detailed information about the state of soils with respect to contamination
is lacking there is enough sound scientific information about the socio-economic
drivers, the pressures on land use by human activities and the impacts of a bad
soil status to justify the development of a soil protection policy. A few distinctive
features that set soil apart from other areas of environmental policy are relevant for
the development of soil protection:

• Soil is a non-renewable resource with potentially rapid degradation rates and

extremely slow formation and regeneration processes. Therefore, prevention and
precaution should be the core of soil protection policies.

• Since contaminants can exceed irreversibility thresholds unnoticed and become

“chemical time bombs” (Salomons and Stigliani 1995 ), it is essential to have
anticipatory policies based on monitoring and early warning systems to protect
the environment and human health.

• Since soil is generally submitted to property rights, soil protection policy may

make use of the environmental liability of landowners.

• Maintaining soils in good condition is an essential precondition for the long-term

sustainability of our society.

• The complexity of local soil contamination is such that avoidance of new

contamination has to be “key aim for the future”.

• Soil protection policies should leave enough space for decisions at the local level,

because of the geographically diverse nature of soils and the diversity of soil
functions and soil uses.

In view of the considerations mentioned above the technical working group on
Contamination proposed four specific policy strategies concerning respectively:

• Local sources of contamination.

• Agricultural soil uses.

• Management of contaminated sites.

• Large-scale diffuse contamination.

The strategies are related to the way the land is used and identify the owner/user
of the site as the primarily responsible party for the prevention of contamination
and the protection of the soil. The strategies can be linked to the DPSIR scheme
(Fig. 23.2 ).