Arsenic in soil

[greathat]

We have just received planning permission for our new build. One of the clauses is that we get the soil tested for arsenic. Does anyone know anything about this? WHat happens if there is arsenic in the soil?

Thanks!

 

[breezer]

must be a reason they would ask such a question, was it an old processing plant or some other industrila activity.

oh, arsenic, dont worry about that, its only lethal if ingested

(it REALLY is lethal)

 

[greathat]

no its always been used for growing plants, it used to be a small holding where plants were grown to sell to local flower shops. they kept chickens on it and things

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You'll need to get a 'site investigation' consultant on the case, have a look in your yellow pages, you could also ring building control, it can't be that uncommon if the planners have asked for it so I would think building control would have come across it and may be able to shed some light. Hey at least you've got the hard bit out the way: the permission

 

[material.buyer]

You can probably get a local testing company to do it.

I work for an aggregate company.. When we get soil tested we use a company called Buerau Veritas (sp?) Not sure if there's one down there though. It's usually a 7-10 day turn around, I think (!!) it's about £100 or so, but don't quote me on that, because I don't pay for it.

I'm sure they'd be able to help you out.

Matt

 

[denso13]

Seems that some areas of Northamptonshire can have high natural levels http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1079/SUM2005342
It's maybe a standard council request to test for it because of this. Shouldn't be too expensive to get it done

 

[JDR]

Hi

As has already been mentioned arseinc can be either due to a previous industrial use or as a result of the natural geology - certain areas of the country including parts of Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire have high natural levels.

The permitted level according to the CLEA guidelines for a residential use is 20mg/kg of soil. See the Environment Agency website for more info. That is what a site developer would normally be required to clean up a contaminated site to for housing.

Not so easy if you live in Northampton where the levels can often be 40-60mg/kg of soil sometimes more. It might be unreasonable to expect you to cleanup what nature has dealt you.

You will need to seek advice from the Contaminated Land officer at the District Council - they will most likely have some guidance they can give as this will be a common query in your area. Something like this http://www.corby.gov.uk/docs/suppor...evelopers guide definitive version feb 06.doc


The fact that the arsenic is there is not necessarily a major problem it is relatively easy to deal with. What you most likely need to do would be to ensure that garden areas have a suitable depth of clean soil so that people, particularly children who might eat it, will not come in contact with the soil on a regular basis. It might be up to a metre of soil, depends on local requirements, some will allow 500 or 600mm.

Make sure you know the source of any soil bought onto you site and get it tested if in doubt - chances are it will also be local - so you might just be importing soil with the same level of arsenic - or worse if the supplier is a bit dodgy.

Poirot and Miss Marple have given arsenic a particularly bad name - I can assure you that there are a lot worse things to have contaminating your garden.