Soil and Groundwater Protection at Industrial Sites

The need for prevention at industrial sites is becoming more and more evident, especially where it is obvious that prevention pays or legislation warrants it. Essential is to define which industrial activities require prevention and how to make prevention adequate. Prevention options may have a general character, like waste prevention or environmental care, or be directly related to soil or groundwater (like impermeable floors and groundwater monitoring). Dutch policy, legislation and regulations on the subject are presented. International exchange of information is found to be important for the further development of soil and groundwater protection at industrial sites. International agreements on common requirements for soil protection are needed.