Hur, vad och varför efterbehandlar verksamhetsutövare? : En studie om verksamhetsutövares efterbehandling av förorenade områden och den statliga finansieringens påverkan

Sammanfattning

Contaminated sites represent a major environmental challenge worldwide, with risks to human health, ecosystems, and negative impacts to the socioeconomic conditions of surrounding areas. Operators (i.e., the parties responsible for remediation) play a key role in addressing this issue, while government funding is an important instrument to accelerate progress. The aim of this study is to examine why different operators remediate contaminated sites, how their projects differ, and the extent to which government funding influences remediation outcomes. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining qualitative analysis of remediation notices (§28-reports) submitted to supervisory authorities with quantitative analysis of remediation data. The results show that the average operator is a private entrepreneur without government funding, remediating risk class 1 sites contaminated by metals mixed with one or more pollutants above the guideline value >MKM with the goal to decrease the pollutants in part of the contaminated site to below MKM through excavation with later reuse of the soil. While operators share many similarities, notable differences exist regarding type and number of pollutants, and the remediation targets. Government funding increases the use of in situ methods, volume treated soil, and full-scale measures, but decreases reuse of soil. These findings imply the importance of policy instruments in steering remediation efforts and ensuring effective management of contaminated sites. Moving forward there is room for more studies on how to implement government funding to effectively encourage remediation.