Soil Contamination Monitoring and Site Assessment
A structured programme covering field methodology, sensor calibration, and data interpretation for environmental monitoring professionals.
Soil contamination investigations are expensive to get wrong. A poorly designed sampling strategy can miss hotspots entirely, leading to costly remediation surprises or, worse, a site that passes assessment when it should not.
What the course covers
The programme works through the full investigation cycle — desk study and conceptual site model development, intrusive investigation design, soil and groundwater sampling, laboratory submission, and risk assessment using CLEA methodology.
Irish regulatory context
EPA guidance on contaminated land, planning conditions for site investigation, and the role of the NPWS in sensitive receptor assessment are all covered. Case studies include former industrial sites, petrol filling stations, and agricultural land affected by diffuse pollution.
- Desk study sources and conceptual site model construction
- Trial pit and borehole sampling protocols
- Soil and groundwater sample preservation and submission
- Interpreting laboratory certificates of analysis
- CLEA risk assessment and generic assessment criteria
- Remediation options overview
Participants work through a full site investigation report for a fictional brownfield site across weeks four and five, applying everything covered in the earlier sessions. Instructor feedback is provided before the final submission deadline.
Duration and format
Six weeks, self-paced with live sessions on Tuesday evenings. Suitable for environmental consultants, geotechnical engineers, and local authority environmental officers.
Questions about this programme? Contact us at [email protected] or call +353 45 487 200. Oakpartners has been delivering specialist environmental education since 2017.
-
Week 1 — Site history and desk study
Sources of historical land use data, mapping resources, and building a preliminary conceptual site model. -
Week 2 — Investigation design
Sampling strategies, trial pit versus borehole selection, and phased investigation planning. -
Week 3 — Field sampling techniques
Soil and groundwater sampling methods, decontamination procedures, and field screening tools including PID meters. -
Week 4 — Laboratory analysis and data interpretation
Understanding analytical suites, interpreting certificates of analysis, and identifying data gaps. -
Week 5 — Risk assessment
CLEA methodology, generic assessment criteria, and worked risk assessment exercises using course datasets. -
Week 6 — Remediation and reporting
Overview of remediation technologies, validation sampling requirements, and structuring a site investigation report for planning or regulatory submission.