Land can become contaminated through the use, manufacture, storage, disposal or spillage of hazardous substances.
Health risks depend on the type of contamination, and the amount of exposure a person has to it.
The presence of contaminants at a site does not necessarily mean the land is unsuitable for use. Measures can usually be taken to manage the land and significantly reduce the risk of exposure for users.
If you are planning to dig or disturb contaminated land, for testing or for any other reason, we recommend you seek advice from a contaminated land consultant. They can advise how to do this to ensure any potential health or environmental risks are appropriately managed.
You can be certain that land is contaminated only by testing it.
However, there are several ways we can provide you with information about whether your site could be contaminated.
The Ministry for the Environment provides a Hazardous Activities and Industries List to help identify sites where the soil may be contaminated.
The list states activities and industries which typically use or store hazardous substances that could cause contamination if these substances:
Aerial photos may indicate how a property has been used in the past.
You can access aerial imagery through Auckland Council GeoMaps. For help, see features of the GeoMaps toolbar.
You can also find historical aerial photos using the Retrolens website.
If you identify a potentially contaminating activity on a property, you may want to order one or all of the reports available.
Both the LIM report and property file contain information about what activities have previously taken place on a property.
For more information, visit About property files and Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports.
If you have a query about contamination information on a LIM report or property file you have received, email:
The report contains council-held information on potentially contaminating activities undertaken on or close to the subject site.
This includes any known or potential:
Unless otherwise requested we provide consents and incidents information for locations up to 200m from the site location.
Before you order a site contamination report, make sure that you:
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Standard processing (10 working days) | $128 |
| Urgent processing (three working days) | $228 |
We will send you an invoice once we've supplied the report.
There is a limit of five adjacent sites per query. If you require information on more than five adjacent sites, or if the sites in question are in different locations, you will need to lodge these as separate requests.
Email the completed form to contaminatedsites@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.
Email contaminatedsites@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz to cancel a report request.
Email contaminatedsites@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz if you have any questions about contaminated sites.
You can also call us on 09 301 0101 and ask to speak to a contamination specialist in our Resource Consent Team.
