BROWNFIELD CLEAN-UP, HEALTH EFFECT ASSESSEMENT AND PREVENTION : A LAW CASE ACCORDING TO FRENCH REGULATION

Brown field clean-up when operation ends is a detailed process conducted according to : - Public regulations, - Private lease terms and conditions. Public environment enforcement agency and, when operator and land owner are... [ view full abstract ]

Brown field clean-up when operation ends is a detailed process conducted according to :
- Public regulations,
- Private lease terms and conditions.

Public environment enforcement agency and, when operator and land owner are separate bodies, operator and land owner are concerned with the achievement of clean-up.
Enforcement of those provisions may lead to discrepancy, even to litigation between former operator and land owner.


1 Scope and approach

Beyond the end of an industrial activity presentation will describe a legal and administrative controversy :
- Assessing the level of clean-up realized versus clean-up which had to be achieved according to regulations and private contracts,
- Describing two challenging ways of assessment of residual health risks. Assessment of the actual interest of meteorological data in hazards prevention, i.e. determine

2 Actors and stakes

Actors are former operator and land owner, anyway the role of public authorities must be refered to
(i.e. in France, the “préfet”), as the weigh of private lease terms.
Stakes are two-fold :
- On the public ground, former operator has to get from the “préfet” the “nihil obstat” – stating compliance to public rules - to have the former industrial site getting a new industrial use,
- On the private ground, land owner demands to have his property fit for future use and asks for indemnification for both delays and insufficient maintenance

3 Arguments and their balancing – Development of independent judicial expertise

Both litigants have conflicting opinions about the “how clean the clean-up must go”. Both produce technical reports the interpretation of which is the duty of judicial expert.

Presentation will tackle the way of comparing both compliance to regulations and contracts, the way of assessing the levels of compliance with regulations and contracts and the financial evaluation of both obligation

4 Conclusion

Conclusion will stress the role and weight of independent expertise in solving a litigation which is both a public and private issue ; so it will encompass public issues, -watertable protection-, and private ones, costs of delays in clean-up, additional maintenance costs and possible financial losses.