Contamination
Contamination and remediation are among the most significant environmental issues for clients from a costs standpoint and also due to the complexity of the regime for liability for management, clean-up and auditing.
Contamination liability is complex. All States and Territories have laws that require mandatory notification of pollution incidents and the discovery of contamination (above certain levels) to the relevant environmental regulator. Contamination may require investigation, management and clean up. There is also the risk of civil claims for damages as a consequence of contamination, if for example, contamination migrates from your site to another property and causes harm to human health or property damage. As contamination liability regulation across Australia continues to evolve, it is incredibly important to get clear on contamination risks before your tenure of a site, during management and when you leave a site.
Gabrielle works with clients and their property, commercial and legal advisers to advise on contamination risk at all stages of an acquisition or tenancy including selling a site (vendor due diligence).
The "polluter pays" principle is enshrined in all of Australia's State and Territory environmental laws. It’s the concept that the person responsible for pollution or contamination is the person who should be liable to clean it up. But it’s not that simple. It can be a shocking surprise for landowners or occupiers to learn that they might be legally liable to comply with regulatory notices to clean up contamination under environmental laws, even if they didn’t cause or contribute to it.
G A B R I E L L E G U T H R I E
Legal Services
We advise on a wide range of legal issues associated with contamination from managing risk to dealing with notices and civil claims.
Advice on legal aspects of pre-acquisition due diligence and vendor environmental due diligence
Advising on the General Environmental Duty (Victoria) in relation to contamination risks from activities (e.g. building, development, extractive industry) - operational environmental due diligence
Advice on contamination notification obligations and development of contamination investigation and reporting protocols
Advice on pollution incident notification obligations and development of pollution incident response and notification protocols
Advice on statutory notices issued by EPAs or Department of Environment and Science (QLD)
Advice on the new Duty to Manage (Victoria) and site management obligations
Advising on contamination liability of government entities, including for contamination associated with land use planning decisions
Advice on development of contaminated sites, including environmental audits
Recent Experience
Advising on contamination risk and liability at 50+ sites in legal due diligence in M&A transactions (including sites in VIC, NSW, WA, NT, SA, QLD and ACT).
Advising an extractive industry site in SA on groundwater investigations and mandatory contamination reporting
Advising a national manufacturer on requests for information about contamination from EPA
Advising a prospective purchaser of a contaminated development site subject to environmental audit in relation to landfill gas risks from a nearby landfill;
Advising a prospective purchaser on liability for dumping of fill material at a commercial site in WA, and implications for contaminated land liability
Advising a site operator in relation to legal risks associated with landfill gas, including liability of vendor in relation to contamination matters under contract of sale and implications for a planning permit for development and use of a site, including material change of circumstance upon discovery of contamination.
Advising on liability of a governmental agency for planning decisions in relation to development of an alleged contaminated site
Successfully representing objector group, Neighbours for Public Green Space, South Oakleigh Inc, before Planning Panels Victoria in relation to Planning Scheme Amendment C129: 1221-1249 Centre Road, Oakleigh South, a development proposed for a site on a former sand quarry and putrescible landfill
