ABSTRACT
France becomes aware of the importance of contaminated sites, particularly their number, the area covered and their diversity. A site which is geologically known to contain metallic sulphides, granite which naturally emits radiation or marl loaded with evaporates, since local concentrations of certain chemical elements could have been generated by natural processes. Thus, under pressure of public demand inventories of 'hazardous sites' were prepared in the years 1975–1980. To assess the magnitude of the problem, ADEME has been preparing a systematic inventory of the French regions since 1992, based on archival records. Contaminated sites can be classified according to various criteria: legal standards, nature of pollutant(s), mode of dispersion of contaminant, type of activity, number of pollutants and so forth. The nature and number of pollutants are complementary elements which allow the ranking of contaminated sites in terms of the types of activities in which they are engaged.
