Contaminated land liability issues: legal perspective

Until recently, companies that contaminated land faced little prospect of being prosecuted or having claims made against them for any personal injuries or property damage arising from the contamination. Most companiesl would have considered it to be inconceivable that they could be required to clean up contamination resulting from an historic disposal, particularly if the disposal had been neither negligent nor unlawful. Current environmental law differs significantly, however, from the law which existed even 10 years ago. This paper examines liabilities arising from contaminated land. First, it discusses the new contaminated land regime and a parallel regime to remediate sites that are contaminated with radioactive substances Second, it discusses remediation liabilities for water pollution. Such liabilities may well involve the remediation of contaminated land when groundwater is polluted. Finally, the paper examines liabilities lor property damage and personal injuries arising from contamination by radioactive substances,