Derelict land

Brownfields are contaminated and derelict land typically in urban settings in which federal funds, limited to 200,000, have been made available. These funds are often associated with significant tax benefits, and serve as seed money for state-granted assistance to selected private-sector developers. The objective of the brownfield initiative, like that of the VCPs, is to assist in the rebuilding of distressed urban areas, to create jobs, and to strengthen cities infrastructure. Under this alternative,... 

Scottish Executive (2003). Statistical Bulletin—Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2002 (ENV/ 2003/1). Scottish Executive, 17th March 2003. www.scotland.gov.uk. 

The challenge of managing contaminated land is not a new one. It has been recognised by governments internationally for at least thirty years and is closely associated, technically and legislatively with the issues of waste and hazardous waste disposal, the regeneration of derelict land, groundwater pollution and... 

G. Fleming, Recycling Derelict Land, Institution of Civil Engineers, Thomas Telford Limited, London, 1991. 

Figure 1 The relationship between derelict land, contaminated land and land with contamination. Different terminologies have arisen due to the contexts (planning, regeneration, environmental protection) in which land is being considered for remediation. With enactment of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 the term contaminated land has a statutory defintion18...

There are several terms in use to describe land in need of remediation. Although the terms may be similar, there are fundamental differences. Figure 1 illustrates the relationships between these terms. The term derelict land, for example, refers to land so damaged by past activities that it is incapable of beneficial use without treatment .14 The statutory definition of contaminated land in the UK is given in Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (see Lowe and Lowe), that is ... 

Scottish Executive, Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 1998, ENV/1999/1, Scottish Executive, Edinburgh, 1999 available at www.scotland.gov.uk/library2/doc05/lssb-00.htm... 

On the other hand, landfill can be an environmental benefit. If wastes are relatively inert or are land-filled under carefully engineered conditions, previously derelict land may be reclaimed. But suitable sites near centers of waste production are becoming harder and harder to find, and this adds to the cost of transporting waste. Landfill is also becoming more expensive as regulations are tightened up. 

Any project involving the rehabilitation of derelict land requires a feasibility study. This needs to consider topography and geological conditions, site history, and the local environment and existing infrastructure. The results of the feasibility study allow an initial assessment to be made of the possible ways to develop a site. This is followed by a site investigation. 

A survey of derelict land being undertaken In Leeds, England. 

The potential development of electrokinetic geotextUes offers an opportunity to increase the redevelopment of derelict land as a means of reducing the pressure for construction within the natural environment. This electrically conductive material enhances the filtration and drainage functionalities by electro-osmosis and ion migration. Various types of conductive component can be incorporated in the geotextile structure to achieve this effect, but the possible use of activated carbon fibre or similar additives with pollution sorptive surface properties can aid land recovery of poUuted areas. 

Environment Agency (EA) http //www.environment-agency.gov.uk/default.aspx (accessed November 3, 2010). The U.K. EA Web site provides important guidance on contaminated and derelict land with many CLR reports available to download. 

Derelict lands, commonly called brownfields, consist of properties that have been damaged by anthrospheric activities and are generally unsuitable for further use without restoration. Often, such lands are contaminated with potentially hazardous substances and require cleanup and decontamination. Generally, brownfields are the result of abandoned industrial enterprises and mining. In the latter case, subsidence into voids excavated underground can be a major problem. Chemical contamination can result from industrial activity and mining. 

Bradshaw [256] has suggested that sowing derelict land, heavily contaminated with copper, lead, tin and zinc, with tolerant plant strains offers the best possiblity of reclamation. It should be borne in mind, however, that it may be euphemistic to describe areas as having been reclaimed which are inhabited by populations of plants which may contain levels of potentially toxic metals substantially in excess of normal phytotoxic limits. The occurence of phyto-... 

The Lower Swansea Valley Project [264] provides a useful example of the successful reclamation, from the standpoint of amenity, of an extensive area of bare derelict land in South Wales, which had been affected by industries producing non-ferrous metals in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, since the dispersion of metals in the environment is an irreversible process, the restoration of amenity is only one aspect of the problem. 

Pecksen G. N. (1986) Methane and the development of derelict land. London Environmental Supplement, Summer 1985, No.l3 London Scientific Services, Land Pollution Group, London, UK. 

Bridges, E. M. 1987. Surveying Derelict Land. Clarendon, Oxford. 

Gemmel, R. P. 1973. Revegetation of derelict land polluted by a chromate smelter, part I chemical factors causing substrate toxicity in chromate smelter waste. Environmental Pollution, 5,181-197. 

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