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Predicted impacts of climate change resulting in changing
weather patterns and sea level rise have put an ever increasing
pressure on the UK coastline to support flood and erosion
management.
This possible increased level of coastal erosion places
risk of wash-out of potential hazardous waste from former
industrial and domestic landfill sites situated along the
coastline in the UK.
Completed landfill sites may have had very little monitoring
undertaken to assess the potential for pollution incidents,
so very little may be known about their likely risk to the
environment or human health. Identifying the most important
closed landfill sites can be particularly difficult due to
limited data available on waste types and quantities deposited
and also the type and extent of environmental monitoring already
undertaken.
It is more than likely that, upon further investigations,
additional landfill sites posing a risk to the maritime environment
and human health due to erosion will be identified.
In addition, considering the preparation of a second round
of Shoreline Management Plans in progress in England and Wales,
as well as contaminated land assessment regimes throughout
the UK, a number of new sites may emerge as potential problem
areas, especially in the medium to longer-term.
CIRIA
is proposing to develop new guidance addressing the issues
surrounding landfill sites on eroding coastlines. It will
set out good practice in terms of how these sites should be
dealt with. It is envisioned the guidance report may be structured
in a way that will address the following three main issues
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Engineering approach - appropriate solutions
for dealing with eroding landfill sites, taking into consideration
regional and national policies and legislation.
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Environmental approach - the potential consequences
of any contaminated material entering the maritime environment.
This will also address how contaminated material can have
a minimal impact whilst within landfill, but a much more
significant impact should it erode in the maritime environment.
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Regulatory approach - how different schemes
should be treated under relevant legislation, including
the Water Framework Directive.
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