New land classifications and handling more accurate data

LONDON - June 3, 2014 - PRLog -- In the section Contaminated Land in the Planning Process, Michael Eaglestone, Planning Officer, City ofBradford Metropolitan District Council, will examine to what extent contaminated land investigation is currently included in planning and development feasibility studies and the application process. He will look at how site investigation under Part 2A and Planning could better interact to facilitate contaminated land development, and to what extent C4SLs could be used to confirm 'suitability for use' in the planning regime.

The question of how the Category 4 Screening Levels should be used in both Part 2A and suitability for use in planning will be tackled by Andrew Wiseman, partner, Harrison Grant. He will also look at how they can be used to prevent future liability.

Simon Firth, Director, Firth Consultants and Sarah Bull, Toxicology Consultant, Ricardo-AEA will clarify how the new values have been derived, and to what extent normal background concentrations have been incorporated and how cautious estimates are derived.

What does site investigation look like from a client’s point of view? Oliver Lancaster, Principal Environmental Engineer, Wales & West Utilities, looks in particular at managing a portfolio of statutory liabilities, including defining and reporting works on contaminated land. Dr Richard Boyle, Senior Technical Manager, Land Team, Homes & Communities Agency will join Oliver to discuss data management and availability from the client’s perspective in a Q&A session.

In the Site Investigation under Part 2A session, Seamus Lefroy-Brooks, Principal, LBH Wembley Geotechnical and Environmental, will explain the work of the Expert panel on how Local Authorities are practically implementing risk assessment under Part 2A, and how risks and uncertainties are examined in context.

But how is an up-to-date site investigation undertaken in practice? David Jackson, Land Quality Officer, Wakefield Council will go through a case study outlining how a recent SI was implemented and a resulting risk summary and remediation plan developed. This includes a remedial options analysis and a risk communications strategy with residents and stakeholders.

In the session on Finding a Solutions-Based Approach to Site Investigation, Frank Westcott, Director, Westenviro, will explain how to maximise the value of the conceptual site model (CSM) and risk assessment. Elements include aligning your data requirements with those of regulators, planners, engineers and the client and translating your Conceptual Site Model into a workable, on-going operational tool.

In the Site-Specific Risk Assessment for More Accurate Site Investigation section, Dr John Heathcote, Principal Specialist - Contaminated Land, Dounreay Site Restoration will look at site-specific risk assessment in managing environmental liabilities. He will look at the differences between site-specific assessments and generic assessment criteria, different modelling approaches and a case study from Dounreay.

In the Optimum Sampling & Data Collection Strategies section, Jonathan Evans, Principal Consultant, Atkins and Amy Parekh-Pross, Technical Manager, Environmental Scientifics Group,will look at best practice in designing and optimising sampling and data collection programmes for improved site characterisation. This will include preparing the sampling strategy, effectively using on-site testing alongside laboratory testing, along with a case study on Environmental Forensics.

In the Getting the most out of your SI Data– Effective Data Management Strategies section, Professor Phil Morgan, Technical Director, Sirius Geotechnical & Environmental, Rob Ivens, Scientific Officer, Mole Valley District Council and Dr Simon Pringle, Director, Red River Software, will look at best practice techniques. Topics covered include effective reporting, minimising the margin for error and a real-time data handling demonstration.

The conference will conclude with Paul Nathanail from the University of Nottingham and managing director of Land Quality Management expounding effective data analysis techniques for increased confidence in Sis, particularly when managing and presenting large volumes of complex data in different formats. He will look at identifying data gaps, how much uncertainty is acceptable, creating appropriate data sets and the range of statistical and modelling tools currently available.

The conference is supported by the Institution of Environmental Sciences and CIWEM, and Groundsure, ESG and Cordek will be exhibiting.

In the evening, Brownfield Briefing is holding a debate: “This house believes the Defra C4SLs make a viable contribution to the risk assessment of brownfield land in England”.

When and where:

Site Investigation 2014 and the Evening Debate on C4SLs will be held on 12 June 2014 at the ICO Conference Centre, 22 Berners Street, London W1T 3DD.

For more information about the event and the Evening Debate and to register your place, please visit our website www.brownfieldbriefing.com

About the organisers:

Newzeye is a specialist business-to-business publisher in the built environment, property, regeneration and sustainability areas and has run over 120 conferences over the last eleven years. It also runs Brownfield Briefing,whichprovides news, comprehensive coverage, expert analysis and authoritative comment from key figures in the industry, along with the latest developments in contaminated land, waste, water and policy issues. It is the definitive source for professionals involved in previously developed land.
Brownfield Briefing was thirteen years old in March.