Contaminated Land and Conveyancing

Last week, the High Court granted permission for a judicial review of the Havering Council’s decision not to designate an illegal landfill site at Launders Lane in Rainham as contaminated land.

It is reported that “constantly smouldering underground fires coming from the illegal landfill at Launders Lane in Rainham cause air pollution all year round. During the summer, the site regularly catches fire presenting significant unquantified health and safety risks to firefighters who are unable to access the fires and to residents, workers, and visitors. Residents say that local GPs attribute the high levels of respiratory and lung diseases in the area to the site, and there are also concerns about surface water runoff from it.”

I once encountered a site involving a national developer who constructed a large estate on top of a former landfill. As a property lawyer, you are trained to look at the evidence. A site like the one I encountered was a dynamic mass of environmental activity: groundwater contamination, plumes of contamination fanning out across the land, and methane gas emissions. Never forget contaminants ‘migrate’.

Property lawyers must understand that environmental search results represent a digitised analysis of old, unaudited data. In my opinion, they are virtually worthless. Reporting to your clients first, that such searches carry any weight at law, and secondly (and what is arguably even worse) ‘are clear’ is professionally, very risky.

The above brings into sharp focus, the absurdity of property lawyers getting involved in climate change issues

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