A Phase 1 Desk Study will determine if contamination could be present at your site, and importantly, if that contamination poses a risk to future site users or the environment.
If the Desk Study finds that the level of risk is unacceptable, you may need to further investigate with a Phase 2 Site Investigation and possibly undertake remediation (Phase 3 Remediation Strategy and Phase 4 Verification).
A Phase 1 is always the first and arguably the most critical part of a phased approach to understanding and mitigating risks from land contamination before moving onto the more expensive and detailed phases of a contaminated land assessment. Getting a good understanding of the site at desk study stage is critical.
To ensure we provide you with a compliant assessment, your Phase 1 Desk Study will be carried out in accordance with local planning policy, best practice and planning guidance including the government’s Land Contamination Risk Management Guidance (LCRM) and British Standard 10175: 2011 + A1 2013.
Our Phase 1 Desk Studies are prepared by experienced consultants who are committed to providing you with technically robust reports that are tailored to meet your needs.
The scope of your Phase 1 Desk Study will include:
The report will assign risk ratings to receptors and give actionable recommendations depending on the nature of the potential contamination source, pathway and sensitivity of the receptor (i.e. proposed residential housing).
This could include further investigation of any potential contamination or ways to reduce the risk. If no unacceptable risks are identified, then we would simply state no further assessment is needed, in our opinion.
We would need to have the following items covered before we can get started on the Phase 1 Desk Study:
Additional information which would be very helpful, but not essential for a Phase 1 Desk Study:
We will aim to provide a report within two weeks of having all the information we need from you. It is important that we have all the information listed above before we can start the statement.
If our timescales are dependent on the availability of information from other third party stakeholders and advisors and safe access to undertake a site walkover, please ensure you have allowed for this in your programme.
Our consultants are committed to guide you through the complex process of undertaking a Phase 1 Desk Study, so you can get your site approved and built.
We are members of the Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (AGS) and CHAS; a SSIP approved Health and Safety scheme.
We are ready to get started.
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