Should property buyers be getting soil tests ?

New Zealand has an estimated 20,000 sites contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides and other toxic material. Since 2008, all regional councils have been identifying land where hazardous activities have taken place, such as pesticide storage or sheep dips - and adding them to a register. The register is based on the Ministry for the Environment's Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL) - which details 53 activities and industries that could potentially cause soil contamination. However, the Ministry admits it doesn't know how exactly many sites may be contaminated, and just because a site does not appear on the regional council's lists, it does not guarantee that it won't be contaminated. Lawrence Yule is the President of Local Government New Zealand, and also the Hastings Mayor Sally Gaw is an Environmental Chemist at the University of Canterbury