Completed soil investigation and soil cleanup in the Netherlands, 1980-2002
In the period 1980 to 2002, approximately 9,300 sites were cleaned up in the Netherlands. The proportion of sites cleaned up by private organisations has increased considerably in the last ten years. The number of reports of new cases of soil pollution has remained more or less constant.
Development in numbers of cleaned-up sites
Since 1980, numerous polluted sites have been investigated and approximately 9,300 sites with historical soil pollution were cleaned up country-wide in the period 1980-2002. Approximately 13% of the cleanup work has been conducted by government.
As a result of the policy, the proportion of cleanup operations conducted by organisations themselves has increased considerably in the last decade, at least in terms of numbers of sites. These are usually smaller building sites. The large and complex, and therefore expensive sites, are still often cleaned up by government as 'safety-net cases', although the costs are sometimes recovered from the polluters.
Slightly more than the half of the completed cleanup operations took place in the Randstad urban agglomeration. Approximately 20% of the cleaned-up sites are located in the 4 main cities. Of the provinces, including the municipalities that qualify for the Urban Renewal Investment Fund (Investeringsregeling Stedelijke Vernieuwing: ISV), the Province of South Holland is the largest, with 17% of the number of cleaned-up sites, followed by Gelderland, Province of North Holland, Overijssel and North Brabant, each of which account for approximately 10%.
Government decentralisation: competent authority for soil cleanup at municipal authorities
There is a decentralisation operation in progress, with the aim of making government more efficient in the area of soil cleanup. Since 2002, alongside the four major cities, sixteen 'direct ISV municipalities' have been operating independently as the competent authorities for soil cleanup (see table). In 2002, they dealt with approximately 10% of completed cleanup operations. In the years to come, the number of ISV municipalities will continue to increase.
| Municipalities with soil cleanup competency ('direct ISV municipalities') in 2002 | |||
| Almelo | The Hague | Helmond | Rotterdam |
| Amersfoort | Eindhoven | Hengelo | Tilburg |
| Amsterdam | Enschede | Leiden | Utrecht |
| Arnhem | Haarlem | Maastricht | Venlo |
| 's-Hertogenbosch | Heerlen | Nijmegen | Zaanstad |
Number of new cases of soil pollution constant
In 1987, the duty of care was incorporated in the Soil Protection Act. This duty of care means that new soil contamination has to be dealt with straightaway so that no backlog of polluted sites is built up. New cases are cases of soil pollution that occur after 1987.
The number of reports of new cases of soil pollution has not changed significantly in 2002 compared to previous years. In 2002, 144 new cases were reported and 123 were cleaned up. In the last three years, it has been noted that the number of new cases that are cleaned up each year has lagged behind the number of reported new cases. This may indicate that these new cases are not actually cleaned up, but it is more probable that the reports are not centrally recorded or included in the monitoring.
