The council can offer advice and help on a wide range of pollution problems, as well as taking formal action to investigate and resolve a nuisance. In general terms, pollution can be classed as anything that might be harmful to the environment or our own health, and includes oil and chemical spillages, excessive noise, smoke and fumes from fires and chimneys, and many other potential problems.
If you want to report fly-tipping or litter please visit our recycling, bins and rubbish page.
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You can report pollution online (opens in new window), or by calling us on (01482) 396301 (normal office hours 8:30am -5:30pm Monday - Friday), providing details of your complaint.
Please note: do not use this system for reporting emergencies outside of office hours, instead contact the customer call centre on (01482) 393939.
For emergency pollution incidents such as oil or chemical spillages and pollution of watercourses, please contact the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60. More information about reporting an incident can be found on their website.
Environment Agency - Report an incident (external website)
Spillages on the highway should be reported to the council’s Highways Maintenance division.
Details of other types of pollution and how to report them may be found on the following pages - Air, Water and Drainage, Noise.
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Can I complain about rubbish and other waste in someone's garden or on private land?
Yes, you can report waste on private land online (opens in new window), or by calling us on (01482) 396301, providing details of your complaint.
If you would like to report flytipped waste on council owned land then please visit our fly-tipping page.
If rubbish is building up on someone's property to a point where it is causing a nuisance, or may attract vermin and is in breach of public health laws, the council has powers to issue a notice to get the property cleaned up. It is an offence not to comply with a notice, and the person can be prosecuted and fined. Where the owner or occupier is unwilling or unable to clean up their property, we will arrange for the work to be undertaken and recharge it to them. Often there may be welfare issues when the occupier can no longer look after the property, and cases often involve the council’s social and housing services, as well as environmental control.
In some cases untidy properties are dealt with through planning legislation, and will be investigated by our planning enforcement section.
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The council has a duty to identify and inspect land which may be contaminated, for example, due to some previous industrial use and decide whether it is suitable for its current use. For some plots of land, this may only need a brief study to be done, but for other sites it may require a more detailed assessment and testing to be carried out. Due to the large number of potentially contaminated sites, the council’s inspection strategy focuses on the top priority ones where there are houses directly on the site.
The following pdf document is the council's original contaminated land inspection strategy, however this is currently being reviewed, and once approved the revised version will be published on this page.
Contaminated land inspection strategy 2001 (pdf 29.4mb opens in new window)
Previous strategy reviews are also available to download as pdf documents, as well as a draft of the revised strategy.
Inspection Strategy Review 2003 (pdf 421kb opens in new window)
Inspection Strategy Review 2005 (pdf 108kb opens in new window)
Draft Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy 2012 (pdf 642kb opens in new window)
The public register for contaminated land lists those sites which have been formally determined as part of this inspection process. Other documents showing what actions have been taken can also be viewed.
You can report suspected contaminated land online (opens in new window), or by calling us on (01482) 396301, providing details of your complaint.
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Where a problem is identified, it may be necessary to clean up the land to make it suitable for use (this is known as remediation). Most contaminated land will be remediated voluntarily as part of the planning process, when the land is redeveloped, and the council will often use planning conditions to make sure this is done properly (please refer to information below on planning guidance).
However, where no voluntary action has been proposed, and the council has identified contaminated land, the general principle is that the polluter pays for the clean-up. Unfortunately in some cases the original polluter cannot be traced and so the current owner or occupier may be liable. The process of determining liability is complex, but more information is provided in our Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy.
Contaminated land inspection strategy 2001 (pdf 29.4mb opens in new window)
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The council will only undertake soil sampling as part of its duties for investigating contaminated land and this will be done in accordance with our inspection strategy.
We will not undertake sampling upon request unless there is a reason to suspect there could be a significant risk from contamination.
If you wish to engage a contaminated land specialist to investigate your property, you can search the following online directories for contaminated land consultants and contractors, or use other local directories and internet searches.
ENDS directory of environmental consultants (external website)
AGS directory of geoenvironmental specialists (external website)
UKAS accredited environmental testing laboratories (external website)
The council cannot make any specific recommendations, but you are advised to discuss your particular requirements and to check that the company is competent and suitably qualified to carry out the work. You are also advised to get more than one quote for comparison.
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Any oil storage, such as tanks containing heating oil, diesel and waste oil, should be routinely checked and maintained to avoid the risk of causing pollution, through leaks and spills. For larger oil storage on commercial sites, the tank may also need to comply with the Oil Storage Regulations. It is always a good idea to keep your domestic heating oil tank in good condition, and ideally it should be properly bunded (contained within a sealed area or unit), so that in the event of a leak, the oil will not soak away into the ground. This can cause a great deal of damage to your property and the wider environment and can be very costly to clean up. As the owner you may be liable and even face prosecution if the oil pollutes groundwater or a nearby river. You may wish to check with your home or business insurance policy to make sure you are covered for such incidents.
The Environment Agency have produced further guidance on oil storage in the following leaflets
Oil storage advice leaflet (pdf 205kb opens in new window)
Pollution Prevention Guidelines (pdf 274kb opens in new window)
The UK spill association have a website which lists accredited contractors who can give specialist advice and assistance for cleaning up oil and chemical spillages:
UK Spill contractors (external website)
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The environmental control team holds a wide variety of environmental information and much of this is available to you on request. Such requests are governed by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and a fee may be charged in some circumstances (at a rate of £35.08 per hour).
The most common requests for environmental information relate to whether a property has been identified as potentially contaminated land under PartIIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, a question that usually arises through the conveyancing process. The environmental control team can provide in-depth reports on previous land-use for individual properties, and whether this is likely to result in the property being identified as potentially contaminated land. These reports are available through the council's environmental enquiry service (see contact details below), at a charge of £75 for a homebuyer report or £125 for a commercial/industrial report and are usually provided within 5 working days.
The following document is a leaflet detailing what information is provided in these reports.
Environmental Enquiry Service leaflet (pdf 111kb opens in new window)
Examples of the Homebuyer and Commercial/Industrial reports are provided in the following pdf documents.
Homebuyer report (pdf 3.9mb opens in new window)
Commercial/Industrial report (pdf 3mb opens in new window)
To order a report or to discuss your requirements for environmental information with a member of the environmental control team please ring (01482) 396301 or email pollution.control@eastriding.gov.uk.
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The Environment Agency regulate waste management activities, and you are advised to contact them for specific advice on 08708 506 506. Burying or disposing of waste without the correct permit is generally not allowed, however some activities are exempt. More information is available on the Environment Agency website:
The Environment Agency (external website)
Failure to notify them or obtain the correct waste licence may result in enforcement action. Also if the waste leads to pollution of land or water the operator may be liable for the cost of cleaning this up. It is likely that any new waste activity will require planning permission from the council.
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Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas which enters buildings from the ground, and can cause lung cancer. Buildings in some areas may have a higher probability of being affected by radon, due to the geology of the area, but even in these areas most homes have low levels of radon. Current building regulations mean that new buildings in radon affected areas may need protection measures.
The UK radon website offers more information and guidance about radon affected areas:
UKradon (external website)
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Where development is proposed on a site that is
- known to be contaminated, or
- where contamination is likely to be present because of its existing or previous use (see the council’s environmental enquiry service ), and/or
- where a use is proposed that is particularly vulnerable to contamination (for example, housing)
a land contamination assessment must be submitted with the planning application. A lack of sufficient information with your application may lead to delays.
For small scale residential development on land with no previous industrial use, this screening assessment should be submitted with your planning application.
Screening assessment form (doc 80kb opens in new window)
Further guidance on what previous uses may have caused contamination and what information is required through the planning process is available in the following document.
Planning guidance on land contamination (pdf 907kb opens in new window)
Where a site is affected by contamination, the responsibility for securing a safe development rests with the developer and/or landowner. However, it is strongly recommended that you seek appropriate professional advice if you intend to develop land which may be affected by contamination. An adequate site investigation must be undertaken by competent persons (with a recognised relevant qualification, sufficient relevant experience and membership of a relevant professional body).
You can search for contaminated land specialists using the following online directories:
ENDS directory of environmental consultants (external website)
AGS directory of geoenvironmental specialists (external website)
UKAS accredited environmental testing laboratories (external website)
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In addition to the planning guidance document above, the council have also helped produce guidance on the verification of cover systems, which are often used to remediate contaminated sites when they are redeveloped.
Guidance on the verification of cover systems (pdf 1.5mb opens in new window)
The Environment Agency offer a lot of advice and guidance on assessing and remediating contaminated land on their website, including the Model Procedures for the Management of Land Contamination (CLR11) and Guiding principles for land contamination (GPLC).
Environment Agency - Land contamination (external website)
The government's National Planning Policy Framework, which sets out the broad objectives and requirements of the planning system is available on the Government's planning website.
Gov.uk - National Planning Policy Framework (external website)
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The council has powers under the environmental damage regulations to take enforcement action against businesses who have caused serious harm to the environment, for example due to a fuel leak or chemical release. We also regulate industry through environmental permits.
More information on the environmental damage regulations is available in the following government leaflet
Defra Environmental Damage Regulations leaflet (pdf 959kb opens in new window)
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