Land and groundwater contamination is something we have lived with since industrial activity began.
It is present in cities, rural and regional areas all over the world and is a legacy of an industrial time where safe waste disposal methods were not understood, and potential human health and environmental risks not yet known.
Then there’s the potential for more recent contamination – from things like agricultural chemicals to landfills.
Victoria has been identifying and cleaning up contamination for decades, developing a number of controls regarding land and groundwater protection, including, for example, through the environmental audit system, and more broadly, the Environment Protection Act 2017.
Today, previously unknown contaminated land is often found when there is a change of land use for a particular property or area - for example, from industrial to residential use - and the state's planning system triggers a type of site investigation.
Where land use changes, land and groundwater found to be contaminated can be cleaned up as part of a development. Under the Environment Protection Act 2017, those in management or control of contaminated land have a duty to manage the contamination, and in some cases, notify EPA of it.
EPA Environmental Audit information included in Victoria Unearthed is a good starting point to find out about any clean up and remediation undertaken for a particular address or area. However, please note that the existence of an environmental audit report does not guarantee that any or all of the conditions suggested in that audit have been implemented.
EPA: About contamination
EPA: Our approach to managing contamination in Victoria
Land contamination means that chemical substances or waste are present in the soil at levels above what would be expected to occur naturally. Contaminated land is often a by-product of our industrial past – a time when our awareness about protecting the environment was much lower than it is now. Then there’s the potential for more recent contamination – from things like agricultural chemicals to landfills.
Victoria has been identifying and cleaning up contamination for decades, developing a number of controls regarding land and groundwater protection, including, for example, through the environmental audit system, and more broadly, the Environment Protection Act 2017.
Groundwater is water that pools or flows beneath the surface, filling porous spaces in the earth. It includes water from bores, springs or wells. Groundwater can be used for a range of purposes.
Groundwater contamination means that chemical substances or waste are present in the groundwater at levels above what would be expected to occur naturally. As with land contamination it is often the result of poor environmental care and practice.
Most causes of land or groundwater contamination come from our industrial past and poor waste practices. Then there’s the potential for more recent contamination – from things like intensive use of agricultural chemicals to landfills.
If you have any concerns that that land or groundwater may be contaminated, you can:
- Get further information via EPA and other sources, such as the State Library of Victoria, historical aerial photos, local historical societies, historical land titles, council rates records, Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works plans, and the Victorian Heritage database.
- Speak with an experienced environmental consultant
If you have any health concerns regarding potential contamination, see your doctor.
Basic backyard soil testing can be low cost and easy to undertake through programs like VegeSafe. However, in-depth site investigations can be far more complex and expensive.
Victoria's planning system and regulatory activities by EPA have been addressing the clean-up or remediation of contaminated land and groundwater for decades.
Depending on the situation, there are different ways to treat contaminated land or groundwater.
EPA regulates Victoria's pollution and waste.
Page last updated: 30/06/23