Advocating risk-based remediation in Poland

Assessment of contaminated land and the use of risk assessment for remedial targets in Poland is in its infancy, with regulators generally defaulting to country-wide generic assessment criteria (GAC) for the clean-up of contaminated land.

RSK attended two conferences recently to compare and contrast the UK approach for assessment of contaminated land focusing on risk assessment and the UK’s regulatory approach to risk assessment.

Sophie Penney from RSK geosciences, in her capacity as Lead for RSK’s Centre of Excellence (COE), attended REMEDy in Warsaw, Poland, in October. She formed part of an international panel presenting and answering questions on the UK’s risk assessment approach and promoting RSK in Warsaw. The conference was well attended by regulators and consultants.

Sophie Penney and Aleksander Spiewak (RSK Polska Operations Director) also presented at the NICOLE ‘Risk Assessment – European Policy and Best Practice’ conference in Warsaw, in November. They showcased a Polish case study and compared how this site was assessed in Poland with how the site would be assessed in the UK. Lucy Thomas (RSK Chief Scientist and East Africa Managing Director) also chaired a Q&A session on European environmental law, PFAS and Sustainable Remediation. The well-attended international conference brought stakeholders and experts together to form working groups to help inform the best practice for assessing contaminated land internationally, with Lucy Thomas sitting in the organising committee.

“Attendance of these conferences puts RSK in the centre of the risk assessment debate in Poland, enabling us to advise our clients and potential future clients about the latest developments in the assessment of contaminated land in Poland and across Europe,” comments Sophie. “Presenting at these events promotes the RSK brand internationally and enables face-to-face conversations with potential clients who regularly attend these events.”