Background Concentrations of Contaminants in Soils (BCCS) project
The Background Concentrations of Contaminants in Soils (BCCS) Project is a Defra sponsored project (October 2011 — March 2012, SP1008) to determine 'normal' concentrations of contaminants in English soils.
The G-BASE soil samples form an important part of this research along with chemical results from other regional soil surveys of varying spatial scales (e.g. UK Soil and Herbage Pollutant Survey and FOREGS).
The work seeks to add clarity to the contaminated land regime through a simplification of the contaminated land statutory guidance (amended Part IIA).
As part of this project a definition of a contaminant's normal background concentration in soil will be developed to help to more clearly define soils that are not contaminated and help focus resources on dealing with the contaminated land that is an environmental and health risk.
Project work packages
The project consists of four work packages — see Figure 1.
Work package 1
Work package 1 will assemble metadata for the main soil data sets available for England as well as gathering important publications containing results that can supplement the regional data.
The spatial resolution for contaminant results in soils across England will be variable, as will the availability of information for contaminants.
In addition to providing the data to establish typical concentrations, this work will help identify the gaps in our knowledge.
Work package 2
Work package 2 will be an exploration of the available data, graphically mapping its extent and determining a range of statistical parameters.
Important to this process will be the selection of the criteria to spatially classify data. The underlying geology and land use will be important in defining spatial domains.
Work package 3
Work package 3 will develop a methodology to establish and interpret 'normal' levels of background contamination and will use robust statistical methods that will take into account the size and nature of the data distribution and account for outliers in the results.
Work package 4
On the completion of Work packages 1–3 Work package 4 will provide technical guidance sheets for a selected number of contaminants showing how typical contaminant concentrations can be applied to delineating land that is clearly not contaminated and thus is not considered to pose a risk to health or the environment.
Contact
For further information about the project contact Dr Chris Johnson, Project Manager
