Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 1998: ENV/1999/1: Page 8

Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 1998: ENV/1999/1

4. Contamination of vacant and derelict land

4.1 The position on contamination was unknown for 45 per cent of the vacant and derelict land in the survey. The SVDLS draws on existing sources of data regarding contamination and does not specifically test for contamination. The term ‘contamination’ used here differs from the statutory definition in the Environmental Protection Act 1990. For derelict land, 501 sites (3,458 hectares) were either suspected or known to be contaminated.

Table 7:

Contamination of vacant and derelict land, 1998¹

	Derelict Land			Vacant Land			Total Vacant and Derelict Land
	Area (ha)	% of Area	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Area	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Area	No. of Sites
Known contamination	1,573	34	172	-	-	-	1,573	24	172
Suspected contamination	1,885	41	329	-	-	-	1,885	28	329
Not suspected	1,087	24	655	2,066	99	1,298	3,154	47	1,953
Tested and found not to be affected	26	1	2	22	1	10	48	1	12
Unknown²	3,216	-	1,064	2,337	-	1,539	5,553	-	2,603
Total	7,787	100	2,222	4,425	100	2,847	12,212	100	5,069

1 Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2 Unknown values are excluded from the calculation of percentages.

4.2 For contaminated derelict land, where the type of contamination was known, coal was the most common contaminant and was present on 51 per cent of contaminated land where the contaminant was known (578 hectares). This can be seen in Table 8.

Table 8:

Type of contamination of derelict contaminated land, 1998¹

	Derelict Land Where Contamination is Known
Type of contamination	Area (ha)	% of Area	No. of Sites
Asbestos	209	18	8
Chromium	9	1	3
Coal	578	51	32
Coal Tars	4	*	3
Copper, Nickel, Zinc	4	*	3
Cyanides	1	*	1
Gases	77	7	10
Phenols	4	*	1
Other combustible materials	47	4	7
Other contaminants	210	18	14
Unknown ²	429	-	90
Total	1,573	100	172

1 Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2 Unknown values are excluded from the calculation of percentages.

4.3 Table 9 shows land known to be contaminated, categorised by Local Enterprise Company. Of the 1573 hectares of contaminated derelict land, 413 hectares (26%) is in the Fife Enterprise area. Enterprise Ayrshire with 210 hectares (13%) and Glasgow Development Agency with 198 hectares (13%) have the second and third largest proportions of the national total.

Table 9:

Known contaminated land by Local Enterprise Company area, 1998¹

	Derelict land Where Contamination is Known
Local Enterprise Company	Area (ha)	% of Area	No. of Sites
Scottish Enterprise
Enterprise Ayrshire	210	13	74
Scottish Borders Enterprise	*	*	1
Dumfries & Galloway Enterprise	129	8	2
Dunbartonshire Enterprise	19	1	6
Forth Valley Enterprise	54	3	3
Fife Enterprise	413	26	12
Glasgow Development Agency	198	13	24
Grampian Enterprise Limited	-	-	-
Lanarkshire Development Agency	170	11	24
Lothian & Edinburgh Enterprise Limited	83	5	11
Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey Enterpirse	-	-	-
Renfrewshire Enterprise Company	181	12	4
Scottish Enterprise Tayside	3	*	1
Highlands & Islands Enterprise
Argyll & The Islands Enterprise	5	*	2
Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise	*	*	1
Inverness & Nairn Enterprise	45	3	3
Lochaber Limited	-	-	-
Orkney Enterprise	-	-	-
Ross & Cromarty Enterprise	62	4	3
Shetland Enterprise	-	-	-
Skye & Lochalsh Enterprise	*	*	1
Western Isles Enterprise	-	-	-
Total	1,573	100	172

1 Figures may not sum due to rounding.