Contaminated soil presents a…

Contaminated soil presents a whole new environmental challenge when it is moved from the site where it is generated. When enormous amounts (hundreds of millions of tonnes) of excess soil is used as part of a quarry rehabilitation initiative, one would be naive to believe that none of that soil would be contaminated and those contaminants would not eventually end up in the groundwater. Where the quarry in question sits on a 'sensitive aquifer' providing hundreds of homes and farms with drinking water from wells, it seems counter-intuitive that a company would be allowed to put so many people's water and health at risk for all of the future. The ECO regulations must additionally include measures to protect both the environment of the present and of the future. Where groundwater is under threat of the possibility of contamination, people rely on government bodies to enact policies that will protect us and all aspects of our environment.