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PFAS in England: Contamination Scale, Remediation Economics, Wastewater Challenges, and Legal and Transactional Risks for Planning, Brownfield Development, Due Diligence and Liability Allocation

Published on: 02 October 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert
Legal News
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Article summary

What does the report reveal about the extent of the PFAS contamination problem in England and the economic burden of remediating these sites?

The Jacobs assessment indicates there are between 2,900 and 10,200 high-risk PFAS locations throughout England, covering as much as 672,000,000m2 in total. ‘High-risk’ encompasses:

  • airports; military bases; fire stations; landfills; wastewater treatment plants
  • chemical sites; oil and gas facilities; nuclear sites; metal plating
  • pulp and paper manufacturing sites; and ‘TULAC’—textiles, upholstery, leather, apparel and carpets

The true count of PFAS-affected places is expected to be considerably larger. Other sectors are treated as ‘presumed PFAS’ sources, including:

  • automotive; electronics; waxes; paints and inks; plastics
  • cleaning products; cosmetics; and sewage sludge applied to land

Jacobs estimated that remediation per high-risk site could vary from £400,000 up to £29bn, with a weighted average of about £9m. They further judged that total clean-up could ‘possibly’ reach £121bn, and even then the hazards would not be eliminated. A particular concern is PFAS-laden water being routed to wastewater treatment plants where it is not adequately treated, leading to the recycling of PFAS pollution back into the drinking water supply...

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