What we do
Pollution Control
The air we breathe, the water we drink and bathe in, the noise around us, and the land we build on and cultivate can all affect our health. A key role of Environmental Health is to protect us and our environment from harm.
Local authorities provide a specialist range of monitoring, investigation and enforcement services covering varying technical areas. They are responsible for monitoring air, water, land and noise pollution.
Some of the varying examples where local authority Environmental Health services seek to improve and protect health are:
- Monitor and seek to improve local air quality
- Waste regulation (e.g. fly-tipping)
- Contaminated land (e.g. identification, control, potential remediation)
- Routine monitoring of landfill gas at closed council landfill sites
- Regulation of industrial processes through implementing the Environmental Permitting regime
- Provision of advice and technical support for the building regulation, regeneration, local planning and development control processes, e.g. to assess contamination of sites proposed for new development
- Private water supply regulation
- Sampling of recreational and bathing waters
- Co-ordinate responses to environmental incidents from natural and man-made disasters
- Investigation of complaints concerning industrial and domestic sources, such as noise from pubs and odour complaints from takeaways, neighbour noise complaints, high hedges investigations, Anti-social Behaviour complaints,
- Investigations into filthy and verminous premises
- Provision of environmental data and information
Scientific expertise and analytical skills are needed to assess data, manage hazards and the reduce risk to the public.