Groundsure’s Ceri Sansom BSc MSc CEnv MIEMA discusses the CLRM released by the Environment Agency

The CLR11 Model Procedures were removed from the Environment Agency (EA) website along with many other standard documents in 2016.

As a result, CLR11 ceased to be official EA guidance. And as a critical document providing the framework of how to approach risk assessment of contaminated land, the industry has been waiting for a formal replacement.

Whilst BS10175 Investigation of potentially contaminated land sites: Code of Practice and he Environment Agency’s Guiding Principles for Contaminated Land (GPLC 1&2) have provided some help, these are no replacement for the CLR11.

The Environment Agency reformed CLR11 as Contaminated Land: Risk Management in early June. Although it does not reinvent the risk assessment wheel and has lost much of the explanatory and reference text, it provides client friendly reference with a clear list of what should be done. It moves away from the flow diagrams of CLR11 to a simple, interactive tool to identify what should be considered at what stage of assessment.

The CLM has been used to provide a clearer approach to the development of remedial option appraisal and has created a holistic remedial strategy.

The EA is actively seeking feedback on the document until December, with a view to formally replacing CLR11.

James Dawson, Head of Insights comments:

CLR11 set the bench mark for talking to technical specialists and clients so as a result was complicated to follow. The launch of the CLRM immediately takes levels of process and technical jargon out of the work flow to allow non industry professionals the chance to navigate a technically challenging and demanding process.

In line with the trend of simplification Groundsure specialise in making environmental data accessible to all our clients through our PDF and GIS data offering. Contact me for further information on how we can assist your next project and discuss our bespoke quoting.