Background:
This profile covers the activities and potential sources of contamination in dockyard areas. It does not include naval dockyards and dockland used for specific industrial processes such as shipbuilding and other engineering operations. These are covered in other Industry Profiles (see list below).
Ports, harbours and docks are intended to provide facilities for:
- safe and economical transfer of cargo and passengers
- the fishing industry
- refuge for ships and small craft
- mooring and repair of all sea-going vessels.
Potential Processes and Operations:
This profile describes only broad trends in ports across the country. It does not deal with individual ports. The history of a port is likely to show that different activities were carried out at different periods. A detailed study should be undertaken to establish its construction, types of cargo handled, the storage facilities that have been used and associated industries.
Potential Contaminants of Concern:
| Contaminant type | Main group of contaminants | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dock construction and development | Cargo handling and storage | Ancillary industrial activities | ||
| Organic | Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) | • | • | • |
| Halogenated hydrocarbons | • | • | • | |
| Non-halogenated hydrocarbons | • | • | • | |
| Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs | • | • | • | |
| Dioxins and furans | • | |||
| Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) | • | |||
| Pesticides and herbicides | • | • | ||
| Organometallic compounds | • | • | ||
| Explosives | ||||
| Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) | • | • | ||
| Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) | • | • | ||
| Inorganic | Metals | • | • | • |
| Non-metals and common inorganic substances | • | • | • | |
| Asbestos | • | • | • | |
| Cyanides | • | • | • | |
| Radionuclides | ||||
Original Industry Profile:
Further Information Sources:
- PFAS Site Profile 12 - Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) (due to be published in summer 2026)
- PFAS Site Profile 13 - Fire Suppression Systems (due to be published in summer 2026)
- Environment Agency - Land Contamination: Technical Guidance on Special Sites: MoD Land R&D Technical Report P5-042/TR/01 (2001)
- Chemical works - coatings (paints and printing inks) manufacturing works
- Railway engineering works
- Gas works, coke works and other coal carbonisation plants
- Railway land
- Timber treatment works and timber products manufacturing works
- Waste recycling, treatment and disposal sites: landfills and other waste treatment or waste disposal sites
