Contaminated Land - Shopping Centre

Purpose

Delta-Simons were instructed to complete a series of Phase I and Phase II Site Investigations in the heart of Bath City Centre. Our primary role was to discharge the contaminated land planning conditions and allow the redevelopment of the site from a former bus station, shopping centre, power station, dairy and garage into a new inner city shopping centre scheme.

Key to discharging the planning conditions was assessing the potential risk for contamination to impact on the underlying Major Aquifer associated with the thermal spa waters for which Bath is so famous. Through a series of site investigations, soil contamination was found to be isolated and associated with historic sources such as fuel storage and historic building materials including asbestos, which had been buried beneath the existing structures on-site.

Outline / Scope of Works

Our contaminated land team worked closely with the Principal Contractor and successfully undertook phased site investigations work in conjunction with a rapid demolition and construction program. Throughout the investigations regular key stakeholder meetings were held to ensure the quality of the assessments met both the client and the regulators expectations.

Our team satisfied the regulators that the site was suitable for use in relation to the proposed redevelopment. Additionally, we identified that the shallow groundwater beneath the site was not in continuity with the underlying and sensitive Major Aquifer and that significant groundwater contamination was not present at the site. The risk of contamination migrating into the Major Aquifer was, therefore, identified to be low.

Outcome/ Client Benefits

With the completion of these works we successfully addressed the contamination planning conditions to the satisfaction of the Bath and North East Somerset Council and the Environment Agency. Furthermore, we were able to demonstrate to the Client that the low levels of contamination identified at the Site did not represent a residual liability.