The descriptive soil investigation

The descriptive soil investigation examines the level of contamination.

The descriptive soil investigation describes:

• The nature, the volume, the concentration, and the origin of the polluting substances or organisms;
• The chance of dispersion;
• The danger of exposure for people, flora, fauna, ground and surface waters.

The descriptive soil investigation may be declared conform by the OVAM, or additional investigations may be ordered.

The descriptive soil investigation will be conducted at the expense of:

• The operator, in case there is a facility established or an activity is being carried out that requires a permit or there is an obligation to report in pursuance of the decree of 28 June 1985 on environmental permits;
• in the other instances, the owner, unless the latter can demonstrate that somebody else has control over the land, in which case this individual will be responsible.

If the afore-mentioned persons can demonstrate that they meet some requirements (f.e. they did not cause the soil pollution and were not aware of it), they will not be required to carry out the descriptive soil investigation. In the above case, or when the party involved fails to fulfil its obligations, the OVAM can itself conduct an ex officio descriptive soil investigation.

It will be necessary to proceed to a next stage, being the soil remediation project, if :

• the descriptive soil investigation demonstrates that the historical soil contamination constitutes a serious threat;
• the new soil contamination exceeds the soil remediation standards.