Four Tips for Protecting and Respecting Neighbouring Properties During Contamination Remediation

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Four Tips for Protecting and Respecting Neighbouring Properties During Contamination Remediation

30 September 2016
 Categories: Environmental, Blog


If you are developing a site and you've discovered that you need to do site contamination remediation, you also need to keep in mind how the remediation efforts may affect neighbouring properties. Wondering what you should consider? Here are some tips to help you and protect your neighbours through the process: 

1. Get permission for site contamination assessments on neighbouring properties.

If for any reason, you need to assess site contamination issues on neighbouring properties, get permission from the landowner before starting that assessment. For example, if you have found high levels of lead in your soil and want to ensure that the contaminant has not spread to nearby areas, if you are worried that chemicals on upland properties may run onto your property or if you have other concerns about neighbouring properties, you may need to assess parts of those properties as well as your own. Always talk with the owner first and be clear about what you need to do on their land.

2. Notify neighbours about remediation efforts.

Whether your site development is in a commercial or residential district, notify your neighbours about your remediation efforts. If dealing with businesses or landowners, figure out who owns the facility and contact their office. If your site is in a residential zone, hire people to go door to door to educate and notify residents about remediation efforts.

3. Take care not to contaminate neighbouring properties during remediation.

Depending on the contaminants that have been assessed at your site, there are a number of different tactics you can use to protect your neighbours. For example, if you are mitigating lead paint from a structure, you may need to corral lead chips by covering the structure with a work tent. Similarly, if you are moving asbestos-ridden soil, the asbestos fibres may fly into the air and be inhaled. One way to reduce that effect is by keeping the soil moist as you work, to control dust. Work with your remediation specialist to create strategies that ensure nearby areas are safe, and educate neighbours of any risks.

4. Secure your property site.

Additionally, you want to ensure that no one gets onto your site and comes into contact with the contaminated elements. To prevent that, secure your site. Make sure that the boundaries are adequately defined, and surround them with temporary cyclone or security fencing if possible. Also, consider an on site guard to keep people away from risks.

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