Consultation shows support for EU soils law

EU governments should make an inventory of contaminated sites and set up a plan to remediate them, respondents to a European Commission consultation on soil protection have said. The consultation is one of the last steps towards publication of an EU thematic strategy on soils, due next month (EED 01/08/05).

The consultation revealed that contamination is seen by stakeholders and European citizens as the greatest threat to soil, followed by erosion and organic matter decline. In the run-up to the strategy, the Commission has recommended drafting a law to require harmonised monitoring in order to locate and eliminate contamination at source.