Typically, land is contaminated by particular industrial, agricultural or commercial activities. Contamination can come from:
- poor waste management
- poor industrial, agricultural or construction practices
- illegal dumping or unsafe storage of hazardous products
- releases or spills of stored industrial waste
- leakage from underground sources, such as onsite wastewater systems, waste disposal sites or storage tanks.
Contamination can also come from products used in the past – for example, lead paint, asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls and incinerator ash. Some areas of Victoria have widespread land contamination due to historical mining activities.
Contaminants currently in use can also be found across Victoria – for example:
- per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
- chlorinated hydrocarbons
- petroleum hydrocarbons
- copper chrome arsenate
- pesticides.
Contamination can also be found in residential areas. This is especially common in areas that were used for industry, farming or landfill in the past.
Activities that may cause contamination
Many activities cause pollution. This pollution can contaminate land or groundwater. Commercial, mining, industrial and old agricultural sites are the most common sites of contamination.
If you manage or control land where these activities have taken place, you may have duties to manage contaminated land.
Land uses and activities that can contaminate land include:
- abattoirs
- abrasive blasting
- acid and alkali plant and formulation
- airports and airstrips
- commercial laboratory sites
- asbestos production, storage and disposal
- automotive repair and engine works
- battery manufacture and recycling
- boat and ship building and maintenance
- boilers and kilns
- brake lining manufacture
- breweries and distilleries
- brickworks
- cement, asphalt and bitumen manufacture
- cemeteries
- ceramic works
- chemical manufacture, storage and blending – for example, ethanol, fertilisers, paints, herbicides, pesticides, photography chemicals, plastics, solvents and dyes
- coke works
- commercial engine and machinery repair
- compost manufacture
- concrete batching
- defence works
- depots for council works, utilities and pest control
- drum and tank reconditioning and recycling
- dry cleaning
- electrical component manufacture
- electrical substations and transformers
- electricity generators and power stations
- electroplating
- explosives industry
- fibreglass reinforced plastic manufacture
- use or storage of fill material imported from overseas
- firefighting and firefighting training, including use of firefighting foams
- foundry operations
- fuel storage depots and service stations
- gasworks
- glass manufacture
- industrial activities involving hazardous chemicals in significant quantities
- iron and steel works
- lime works
- landfill sites and waste depots
- materials recycling and transfer stations
- metal smelting, coating, refining, finishing and treatment
- mining, quarrying and extractive industries
- vehicle manufacture, repair and engine works
- oil and gas production and refining
- pharmaceutical manufacture and formulation, including illegal laboratories
- port activities
- printing and photography shops
- pulp and paper works
- radioactive material use – for example, in hospitals
- railway yards
- sites of incidents involving release of hazardous materials
- shooting ranges and gun clubs
- scrap metal recovery
- service stations and fuel storage
- sewage treatment plants
- stock dipping sites
- spray storage and mixing sites – for example, orchards
- spray painting
- tanneries and associated trades
- textile operations
- timber preserving and treatment
- tyre manufacturing
- underground storage of liquid chemicals, wastes and fuels
- waste treatment, incineration and disposal
- wool scouring.
Other onsite activities that may cause contamination
Sometimes the main activities at a site may be harmless, but other onsite activities could cause contamination – for example:
- above-ground storage of chemicals or fuels (not including bulk storage or warehousing)
- poor waste management
- illegal dumping
- using imported fill material of unknown origin
- sheep dips on farms.
Nearby activities that may cause contamination
Pollution from activities at a site can contaminate other nearby sites – for example, from:
- service stations
- automotive repair and engine works
- chemical manufacturing
- dry cleaning
- landfills.
You must consider the risk to your site of pollution from nearby sites.
Agriculture and animal production
Most farming or agriculture activities do not cause contamination. However, intensive farming activities may cause contamination – for example:
- applying biosolids to land
- disposing of farm waste
- activities involving a large amount of pesticides.
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