Insight User Guide: Current industrial land use

Recent industrial land uses

Current potentially contaminative industrial sites sourced from Ordnance Survey. The data will provide information on the type of activity undertaken. Groundsure has analysed this data and selected specific sites for inclusion dependent on the potential for contaminative activities to have taken place.

Current or recent petrol stations

Open, closed, under development and obsolete petrol stations taken from the Catalist dataset. The classifications are broken down as shown below:

Electricity Cables

High voltage underground electricity transmission cables running between generating power plants and electricity substations. These relate to electricity transmission only and not local distribution networks. The data includes information on operating voltages, year of installation and cable construction. The absence of data in this section should not be used as a confirmation that no other underground cables are present at a site, and a practitioner should obtain a full Utility Search prior to any groundworks at a site. These may be ordered through Groundsure or through your preferred provider.

Gas pipelines

Identifies high pressure, large diameter pipelines which carry gas between gas terminals, power stations, compressors and storage facilities. These relate to national transmission only and do not relate to local gas distribution networks. The absence of data in this section should not be used as a confirmation that no other underground pipelines are present at a site, and a practitioner should obtain a full Utility Search prior to any groundworks at a site. These may be ordered through Groundsure or through your preferred provider.

Sites determined as Contaminated Land (EPA 1990)

These sites have been determined as contaminated land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This database also includes sites listed as “potentially contaminated land” where Groundsure have information that these are either currently being investigated or the likelihood of them being investigated under Part 2A is considered high.

Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH)

Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) sites. This data includes upper and lower tier sites, and includes a historical archive of COMAH sites and Notification of Installations Handling Hazardous Substances (NIHHS) records. The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH) implement the requirements of the COMAH Directive (1996) and are also cross-referenced in the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015.

Regulated explosive sites

Sites registered and licensed by the Health and Safety Executive under the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 (MSER). This data is no longer updated by the provider and represents an archive last updated in April 2011.

Hazardous substance storage/usage

Consents granted for a site to hold certain quantities of hazardous substances at or above defined limits in accordance with the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015.

Historical licensed industrial activities (IPC)

Discharges of trade or sewage effluent into rivers, lakes or coastal waters requires consent from the Environment Agency, which specifies the volume, nature and composition of the discharge. They include Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) records of substance releases to air, land and water. This data represents a historical archive as the IPC regime has been superseded.

Part A(1), IPPC and Historic IPC Authorisations (Scotland only)

Records of Part A installations regulated for the release of substances to the environment sourced from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Current or licensed industrial activities (Part A(1))

Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales records of Part A(1) installations regulated under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 for the release of substances to the environment. Guidance on which facilities are regulated under Part A(1) can be found here.

Licensed pollutant release (Part A(2) or Part B)

Local Authority records of Part A(2) and Part B installations regulated under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 for the release of substances to the environment. Part A(2) permits are required for the following activities:

• Refining gas
• Metal works, eg producing pig iron or steel, casting ferrous metal, operating forge hammers or Applying fused metal coatings
• Melting non-ferrous metals
• Surface treating metals and plastic materials
• Grinding cement clinker or metallurgical slag
• Glass manufacturing
• Cellulose fibre reinforced calcium silicate board manufacturing
• Ceramic product manufacturing, including roof tiles and bricks
• Non-hazardous or animal waste incineration
• Manufacturing wood based boards, eg plywood
• New tyre manufacturing
• Disposing of or recycling animal carcasses or waste Part B permits are required for emissions to air.

Please note this dataset does not include permits for mobile installations.

Part B Authorisations (Scotland only)

Records of Part B installations regulated for the release of substances to air sourced from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Radioactive Substance Authorisations

Records of the storage, use, accumulation and disposal of radioactive substances regulated by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales. They relate to licences granted under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. This Act controls the storage, use and disposal of radioactive substances. RAS sites are divided into four categories depending upon the potential risk to the public:

Licensed Discharges to controlled waters

Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales records of discharges of treated or untreated effluent to controlled waters under the Water Resources Act 1991.

An environmental permit is required for the discharge of liquid effluent or waste water (poisonous, noxious or polluting matter, waste matter, or trade or sewage effluent):

• Into surface waters, for example, rivers, streams, estuaries, lakes, canals or coastal waters (known as water discharge activities)
• Onto or into the ground, for example, land spreading waste sheep dip, or discharging treated sewage effluent to ground via an infiltration system (known as groundwater activities).

Pollutant release to surface waters (Red List)

Discharges of specified substances under the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1991 to air, land or water. Such substances include large heavy industrial processing and manufacturing plants and large sewage treatment works. Under the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1991, sites discharging certain substances regarded as exceptionally toxic, persistent or bio-accumulative, must hold consents to discharge under these Regulations. The Regulations provide a full listing of the substances in question, identified as Red List substances. Such discharge consents will set absolute limits for discharges and detail other factors such as provision of facilities for sampling and monitoring. Consents aim to ensure that the stringent SWQS provided under The Surface Waters (Dangerous Substances) (Classification) Regulations 1989 (as amended) are met.

The following substances constitute the Red List:

Pollutant release to public sewer

These are trade effluents that discharge to the public sewer and contain particular substances, or derive from specific processes. They include Red List substances, effluents from the production of chlorinated organic chemicals, effluents from paper board and pulp processes into public sewers.

The Referrals of Red List Discharges to Sewers (Corporate Entities) dataset holds the details of all organisations, who have made an application to a sewerage undertaker for permission to release a Red List Substance into a public sewer under section 120 of the Water Industry Act 1991.

The term Red List refers to 23 of the most dangerous substances which were listed under the Environmental Protection (Prescribed Processes and Substances) Regulations 1991. These substances were selected for priority control under the Integrated Pollution Control legislation (IPC) – subsequently superseded by the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) and then the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR).

The Water Industry Act 1991 directs sewerage undertakers who have received a notice containing an application for consent to discharge special category trade effluent from a trade premises into a public sewer, to refer to the Environment Agency the questions:

• Whether the discharges to which the notice relates should be prohibited
• Whether, if they are not prohibited, any requirements should be imposed as to the conditions on which they are made.

List 1 Dangerous Substances

Discharges of exceptionally toxic, persistent or bio-accumulative substances identified on List 1 of European Directive E 2006/11/EC, and regulated under the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations. List 1 substances have the potential to cause the most harm to aquatic life due to their persistence, toxicity or bioaccumulation. The following substances are classified under List 1 by the Environment Agency:

List 2 Dangerous Substances

Discharges of substances identified on List 2 of European Directive E 2006/11/EC, and regulated under the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2015. The following substances are classified under List 2 by the Environment Agency:

Pollution Incidents (EA)

Records of substantiated pollution incidents. Since 2006 this data has only included category 1 (major) and 2 (significant) pollution incidents. Pollution incidents within this dataset are those that have been brought to the attention of the Environment Agency and may have an environmental and/or operation impact. They are recorded as either a breach of a permit, licence or consent or to an incident at an unregulated site. Each incident has a discrete impact rating for air, water and land.

Pollution Inventory (substances)

The Pollution Inventory (substances) includes reporting on annual emissions of certain regulated substances to air, controlled waters and land. It gives details of releases and transfers of substances from industrial activities they regulate, including the annual emission of certain substances to air, controlled waters and land, and off-site transfer in wastewater and waste. The data is given for the most recent complete year available.

A reporting threshold for each substance is also included. Where emissions fall below the reporting threshold, no value will be given.

A site must report to the Pollution Inventory if they:

Operate under a Part A(1) environmental permit and have received a notice under Regulation 60 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010
Operate a sewage treatment works with a capacity at, or over, 100,000 population equivalents
Dispose of radioactive waste to air, water or sewers covered by a permit issued under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010
Run an opencast mine or quarry with a surface area over 25 hectares, or an underground mine and related operation (no capacity threshold).

Pollution Inventory (waste transfers)

The Pollution Inventory (waste transfers) includes reporting on annual transfers and recovery/disposal of controlled wastes from a site. A reporting threshold for each waste type is also included. Where releases fall below the reporting threshold, no value will be given. The data is given for the most recent complete year available.

Pollution Inventory (radioactive wastes)

The Pollution Inventory (radioactive wastes) includes reporting on annual releases of radioactive substances from a site, including the means of release. Where releases fall below the reporting threshold, no value will be given. The data is given for the most recent complete year available.