Contaminated land and groundwater

Learn about contaminated land and the regulations and duties that apply to managing it.

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Contaminated land is defined under section 35 of the Environment Protection Act 2017:

(1) Subject to subsection (2), land is contaminated if waste, a chemical substance or a prescribed substance is present on or under the surface of the land, and the waste, chemical substance or prescribed substance:

(a) is present in a concentration above the background level; and

(b) creates a risk of harm to human health or the environment.

(2) Land is not contaminated:

(a) merely because waste, a chemical substance or a prescribed substance is present in a concentration above the background level in water that is on or above the surface of the land; or

(b) if any prescribed circumstances apply to the land.

Under the Act, groundwater is part of the definition of land. Groundwater is any water contained in or occurring in:

  • a geological structure or formation, or
  • an artificial landfill below the surface of land.

Groundwater is sourced from:

  • bores
  • spear points (shallow installations)
  • springs
  • horizontal drains
  • wells.

Groundwater can discharge:

  • to surface water, such as rivers and swamps
  • from the ground surface as spring flow.

Contamination from land can make its way into groundwater. For example, rain can mix with chemicals and then seep through soil into groundwater.

A range of sources can contaminate land and groundwater, including:

Poor practices can result in contamination, including:

Natural rock and soil can also contain elevated concentrations of substances. When disturbed and/or excavated, these substances can contaminate land – for example:

  • arsenic
  • sulfates
  • iron
  • naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs).

Over time, these contaminants also mix with groundwater.

Contamination can happen in many ways. Learn about activities that may contaminate land.

Contaminated land and the law

There are duties under the Environment Protection Act that apply to contaminated land. The key duties that apply are:

These duties also apply to groundwater.

These duties apply to anyone in management or control of the land. This can include contractors and people living on contaminated land in some circumstances. The duties apply regardless of who caused the contamination.

Anyone who engages in an activity that involves contaminated land must also meet the general environmental duty. If the activity poses a risk of harm to human health or the environment from pollution or waste, you must minimise those risks so far as reasonably practicable.

To learn more about these duties and our expectations for meeting them, visit:

To learn more about how we define contaminated land and the principles and standards that apply to identifying it, see Contaminated land: Understanding section 35 of the Environment Protection Act 2017.

You must get a permission to conduct some activities related to contaminated land. Our permissions focus on activities that may have a significant impact on human health and the environment. Permissions have conditions that must be followed.

Activities related to contaminated soil and groundwater that need a permission include:

You may need a permission for processes involving a discharge or deposit to an aquifer. For example, if you are cleaning up contaminated groundwater by injecting remedial chemicals, you need an A18 – Discharge or deposit waste to an aquifer permit. You may also need approvals under the Water Act 1989 – for example, a licence to take and use water or to re-inject into an aquifer.

Our role in contaminated land

Environment protection laws work alongside the Planning and Environment Act 1987. Together they reduce risks of harm to human health and the environment from contaminated land.

We support state and local government with land use planning and development decisions. This includes planning permit applications, planning scheme amendments and land use processes. We work with councils to protect human health and the environment from risk of harm from pollution and waste.

We administer Victoria's environmental audit system. This includes appointing environmental auditors. Environmental auditors perform preliminary risk screen assessments (PRSAs) and environmental audits.

When industrial land is redeveloped for other uses, councils may require a PRSA or an environmental audit. For more information, visit Assessing potentially contaminated land for land use planning.

We support a national approach to assessing and remediating contaminated land. We do this in line with standards, including the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure.

We issue notices and site management orders to make sure contaminated land is appropriately managed to protect human health and the environment.

Contaminated groundwater

Contaminated groundwater must be cleaned up or managed. When contaminated land contaminates groundwater, we may require:

  • a site assessment
  • clean-up of the contamination
  • ongoing management.

When it's not reasonably practicable to clean up groundwater contamination, we may:

  • identify a Check Your Groundwater (CYG) area to let people know about groundwater contamination issues
  • require management of contamination based on the potential risk of harm
  • stop certain activities that may worsen groundwater contamination
  • periodically check whether more groundwater clean-up is possible as new technology becomes available.

Impact of contaminated land on your health

Contaminated land does not always mean there's an immediate risk to human health. People can live on contaminated land safely when the land is appropriately managed.

The risk of harm depends on the location, type, level and concentration of the contamination. The risk also depends on the exposure method – for example, ingestion or inhalation – and the level of exposure.

Exposure to some types of contamination may cause immediate harm to human health. Long-term exposure to most contamination can impact human health. For example, some types of contamination can increase your risk of cancer if you’re exposed to them over a long time. Learn more about reducing your exposure to contaminated land.

Drinking contaminated groundwater also has health effects. Short-term effects include diarrhoea and vomiting (emesis). Long-term effects include cancer and kidney or liver disease. Learn more about using groundwater safely.

Manage contaminated land and groundwater

You must minimise risks of harm to human health and the environment from contaminated land and groundwater so far as reasonably practicable. To do this, you're expected to:

  1. Identify the contamination you suspect is present.
  2. Investigate and assess the contamination, with expert help from a consultant.
  3. Eliminate or manage the risk of harm associated with the contaminated land so far as reasonably practicable. This may include further assessment, clean-up, ongoing monitoring or another administrative approach.
  4. Provide and maintain proportionate controls to minimise risk that cannot be eliminated.
  5. Share information about the contamination with anyone you reasonably believe may be affected by the contamination, including future owners of the site. We suggest you work with a consultant to help with the communication.

For a practical example of how to do this, visit Reasonably practicable.

Forming a suspicion that land is contaminated

To help you identify if a site could be contaminated, you can research how a site has been used in the past – for example, if it was used for industry, mining or storing chemicals. To learn more, visit Activities that may contaminate land.

Our Potentially contaminated land – A guide for business covers:

  • how to identify land that's potentially contaminated
  • what to do if you suspect your land is contaminated
  • your duties and obligations.

For a practical example of what to do, visit Duty to manage contaminated land.

Potentially contaminated land has a different meaning for land use planning compared to its meaning under the duty to manage contaminated land.

Background contamination levels for naturally occurring chemical substances

When assessing whether land is contaminated, naturally occurring levels of chemical substances are taken into account.

Under section 36(b) of the Act, the background level is the 'naturally occurring concentration of the waste, chemical substance or prescribed substance on or under the surface of the land in the vicinity of the land'.

To help assess background levels of naturally occurring chemical substances, use our guidance Background levels: Identifying naturally occurring chemical substances. This has an assessment method and approach.

We recommend you use a qualified consultant to test soil and groundwater.

Learn more at testing for contamination on the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) website.

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