Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments (CL:AIRE) in association with The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has today announced the release of new guidance on the use of statistical tests in the assessment of soil contamination data. The 67 page document, entitled Guidance on Comparing Soil Contamination Data with a Critical Concentration is the first of a long list of new and revised guidance promised by Defra’s 2006 ‘Way Forward’ discussion paper. The overall aim of this guidance is to increase the understanding of practitioners of the role that statistics play in quantifying the uncertainty around estimates of average contaminant concentrations.

To download the guidance free from the CL:AIRE website click 'Read more.'

The guidance has been written by a small, expert group under the direction of Judith Lowe; other members were Dr Mary Harris, Paolo Masi, Mathew Worboys and Peter Witherington. Financial support was provided by the Soil and Groundwater Technology Association (SAGTA) and Defra.

'Since its formation, SAGTA has sought to provide authoritative industry participation to help resolve the management of land contamination,' said Douglas Laidler, Secretary of the Association. 'SAGTA has been pleased to provide funding and support to the development of this statistics guidance, a publication which addresses a key issue and represents a significant example of collaboration.'

Nicola Harries, Project Director at CL:AIRE commented:'Statistical analysis is a powerful tool, and the approach offered here will be useful to all those with a responsibility for or involvement in contaminated land. CL:AIRE is delighted to have administered this guidance and looks forward to working with our partners to develop additional support documents for the industry.'

Speaking about the publication at a meeting of the CIEH’s Standing Conference on Land Contamination at the National Exhibition Centre, Conference Chairman Alan Higgins said: 'This is a key piece of advice, in particular for regulators but also, since it deals with the planning situation, for developers and their technical representatives too. Taking over where Annex A of CLR7 left off, the authors have done a good job in explaining a complex topic and we are very pleased to have played our part in its publication.

To view/download your copy of the Guidance as a PDF click on the link below:
 Guidance on Comparing Soil Contamination Data with a Critical Concentration 440.96 Kb

Notes

• Defra’s discussion paper Assessing risks from land contamination – a proportionate approach. Soil guideline values: the Way Forward (CLAN 06/2006) was published in November 2006
• Guidance on Comparing Soil Contamination Data with a Critical Concentration is published on-line jointly by the CIEH www.cieh.org.uk and CL:AIRE www.claire.co.uk
• The development of the document was funded by Defra and SAGTA and administered by CL:AIRE. Funding for publication came from the CIEH
• Additional advice came from Lucy Thomas and Tom Knowles (RSK), Tim Wright (Atkins), Dr John Heathcote (UKAEA/Dounreay Site Restoration), Nick Barber (Nexia Solutions), Rob Ivens (Mole Valley DC), Simon Firth (WorleyParsons Komex), and Steve Moreby (CIEH)
• Use of the document in Scotland is endorsed by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland.

For further information contact Jon Raeside at CL:AIRE on +44(0)20 7258 5321 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text48072 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it