The £21·5 million project to clean up the massive former gasworks site on the Greenwich peninsula was one of the most extensive and integrated ground contamination remediation exercises ever carried out in the UK. It included removing a 7 Ml litre tar well at the site of the Millennium Dome, washing 30 000 m 3 of soil, treating 66 000 m 3 of contaminated groundwater and effluent and recycling 245 000 m 3 natural and engineering materials for backfill. This paper describes the various engineering and environmental techniques that were used in both the statutory clean-up operation and the subsequent remediation required for redevelopment
Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out a regulatory regime for the identification and remediation of land where contamination is causing unacceptable risks to defined receptors. The Environment Agency has a number of regulatory roles under this regime. Where land is designated as a Special Site, as defined in the Contaminated Land (England) Regulations 2000, the Agency will act as the enforcing authority. It is expected that a similar regime will be introduced in Wales during 2001, but the reader should check whether definitions of Special Sites in the Welsh regulations are the same as in the English ones. The Environment Agency's approach to carrying out its regulatory responsibilities is set out in its Part RA Process Documentation,, available on the Agency website (www.environment-agency. gov.uk). This documentation sets out how the Agency intends to carry out its responsibilities under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which came into force in England on 1 April 2000.