Land News

Olympics 2012 - Contaminated Land Clean Up

Lawson Fairbank 7th July, 2005

The Olympics in 2012 will see remediation of one of the largest contaminated sites in the south east. Plans include restoring rivers to improving air quality.

The lower Lea Valley area is one of the most deprived communities in the UK and is also the largest area of derelict and contaminated land in the capital.

The Lea River, that runs through the site was used as an industrial waterway and often had a lot of sewage pumped into it as well as filling up with waste water from storm overflows during heavy rainfall.

The remediation operation, is to be funded by a central government budget of £800 million. Developers anticipate remediation of the contaminated soil will take place on site, with bioremediation playing a major part.

The project also envisages a major restoration of the river and wetlands and the recreation of floodplain areas to conserve biodiversity.

All other development would be funded through a mixture of private sector investment, lottery money, and, most controversially, a levy on council tax for Londoners.

The bid also contains plans to make the games low-carbon through the integrated use of various forms of renewable energy and the materials chosen for building, as well as aiming for zero-waste through partnerships with recycling and re-use organisations.

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