ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to address the range of areas where a landowner may find himself subject to liability for the consequences of an act of pollution. The principle that the polluter should pay has been adopted at various levels of government - national, European and international. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states that the polluter should bear the costs of ensuring that the environment is in an acceptable state, and that the cost of goods and services should reflect the extent to which their production or consumption causes pollution. The polluter pays principle is to be found as a central plank of European environmental law - at least in a theoretical capacity. Contaminated land may have a range of adverse effects on the environmental media and understanding of which, compared to the problems of air and water pollution, is relatively new.
