Naturally Occurring Arsenic

Written By Dr. Dave Bull

Naturally occurring (geogenic) arsenic seems to be a surprisingly common 'natural hazard' around New Zealand. Dave Bull and Bill Lines have encountered several sites from Otago, Canterbury, Waikato and even Wellington where arsenic exceeds Soil Contaminant Standards and there is no evident man-made (anthropogenic) source.

Typically these sites are difficult to remediate because of the sheer volume and extent of impacted soil. HAIL Environmental has had a lot of success applying bioavailability assessment to such sites, to show that the 'contamination' does not pose as much risk as total concentrations might indicate, and hence minimise the need for management.

These risk assessments have been accepted by territorial authorities including Thames-Coromandel, Queenstown Lakes and Tasman District Councils, allowing affected developments to proceed.

To find out more call Dave on 021 036 7764.

Dr. Dave Bull

Dr. Dave Bull is a director of HAIL Environmental and holds the Certified Environmental Practitioner – Site Contamination specialist certification. He has over 20 years of professional experience, including more than 15 years in contaminated land consulting in New Zealand and England, and is well known as a technical reviewer and speaker on contaminated land matters. Dave is New Zealand’s leading authority on arsenic contamination, and has unhealthy interests in the distribution, speciation, bioavailability and sustainable management of heavy metals generally. His main practice areas are quantitative risk assessment and contaminated land management. Outside of his day job, Dave is a land developer, an aspiring game designer, a keen tramper and is trying to enjoy judo. He is married to a criminologist, and they have three small criminals.

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