Any property – a home, an apartment building, a farm, or an industrial site – can be on contaminated land.

Too often, contamination such as hazardous wastes in soil, groundwater or sediment is invisible, and harmful to human health and safety, and to the environment.

Cleanup costs can be expensive and may even exceed the value of the property.

To help your client find out if a property they’re considering buying is contaminated, check the provincial contaminated Site Registry. 

This process is becoming increasingly important as building sites in urban areas are getting scarcer and remediating a contaminated site may be a viable option.

The Site Registry contains information on more than 9,000 sites, including:

• sites that are being screened and are not yet confirmed as being (or not being) ontaminated;
• sites that are being cleaned up;
• sites that are awaiting final confirmation that cleanup is complete; and
• sites where cleanup is confirmed.

You can access the Site Registry through BC Online.