Contaminants and the Australian soil environment

Contaminated land is an increasingly important environmental, health, economic and planning issue in Australia and a number of initiatives and approaches have been developed for dealing with these issues. As part of this process Government agencies are placing greater emphasis on the state of soils and the soil environment, recognising the soil’s role as a potential repository for pollutants, as a transmitter of undesirable materials to surface and groundwaters and as a potential source of contaminants in the food chain.