HAIL site assessments
The Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL), published by the Ministry for the Environment, is a compilation of activities and industries that are considered likely to cause land contamination resulting from hazardous substance use, storage or disposal. The HAIL is intended to identify most situations in New Zealand where hazardous substances could cause land contamination.
If you are planning on undertaking a land development activity and/or soil disturbance an assessment needs to be undertaken to determine whether the land is a ‘piece of land’ on which an activity or industry on the HAIL list is being undertaken, has been undertaken or is more likely than not to have been undertaken.
If the answer is yes, you will to comply with the National Environmental Standards for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health to ensure that the proposed activity will not cause risk to human health given the historic or current use of the land.
If you would like an assessment to be carried out to understand the requirements for your land development activity we can provide you with all of the necessary information. Give us a call to find out more.
The process
1. Contaminated land – is this relevant for my proposed activity?
If you are planning on undertaking one of the following five activities: subdivision, land-use change, soil disturbance, soil sampling, or removing fuel storage systems an assessment needs to be undertaken to determine whether an activity listed on the Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL) is being undertaken, has been undertaken or is more likely than not to have been undertaken.
The HAIL, published by the Ministry for the Environment, is a compilation of activities and industries that are considered likely to cause land contamination resulting from hazardous substance use, storage or disposal. The HAIL is intended to identify most situations in New Zealand where hazardous substances could cause land contamination.
If the answer is yes, you will need to comply with the National Environmental Standards for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health (NES CS) to ensure that the proposed activity will not cause unacceptable risk to human health given the historic or current use of the land. The NES CS controls activities by requiring a resource consent.
2. How do I know if HAIL activities are/have been carried out on my site?
A Preliminary Site Investigation (PSI) Report can establish if your site:
Is ‘more likely than not’ a HAIL site (either in the past or currently).
It is highly unlikely that there will be a risk to human health if the activity has been carried out.
A PSI includes a desk top review of current and historical property related documentation, a review of the environmental setting and a site walkover.
3. There is a HAIL on my site, what next?
If there is or has been a HAIL on your site a Detailed Site Investigation (DSI) is likely to be required to determine the risk level and the type of resource consent required (Unless the activity complies with permitted activity conditions under regulation 8).
The DSI involves intrusive techniques to collect field data and soil samples for laboratory testing to determine the concentrations of contaminants of concern. Concentrations of contaminants are compared to the applicable standard to determine the risk level. The DSI is designed based on the findings of the PSI.
The NES CS requires that a DSI be submitted with the consent application for it to be considered controlled, discretionary or restricted discretionary.
If the contamination present exceeds the applicable standard then you need to decide what to do to make the land safe for the current or intended use.
There are two options:
Remediate (clean up) the land to reduce the concentration of contaminants to an acceptable level.
Manage the land to prevent exposure of people to the contaminants.
The chosen methodology will need to be documented within a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) and approved by Marlborough District Council.
To ensure remedial works are undertaken in accordance with the RAP, the works will have to be monitored by a Suitably Qualified and Experienced Practitioner, reported in a Site Validation Report (SVR) and submitted to Marlborough District Council.
If you would like an assessment to be carried out to understand the requirements for your land development activity we can provide you with all of the necessary information. Give us a call to find out more.
For further information visit:
HAIL - https://www.mfe.govt.nz/land/hazardous-activities-and-industries-list-hail#hail-web