Monitoring of New and Revision of Existing Contaminated Sites for the Establishment and Update of Records in the Contaminated Sites Register (MoniKM, 2025–2027)
Project support from the State Environmental Fund through the National Programme for the Environment under the priority theme “Monitoring of the Environment and Ecological Processes” was granted on the basis of a decision by the Minister of the Environment for an application submitted under NPE call no. 2/2025.
In line with the methodology of the National Inventory of Contaminated Sites (NIKM II), the MoniKM project focuses on the ongoing monitoring of public information sources (media, public databases), on submissions and alerts from the public as well as from state administration authorities (primarily the Ministry of the Environment and the Czech Environmental Inspectorate) and local governments regarding additional, newly identified legacy sites, i.e. potentially contaminated sites that are not currently captured by the Contaminated Sites Register (SEKM). An ongoing task will be the monitoring and analysis of the current CzechInvest brownfields database, with a focus on sites recorded in that database as having environmental burdens, sites where such burdens can be presumed, and sites for which there is insufficient information on environmental burdens.
For approximately 340 sites identified through ongoing monitoring, sites designated by the Ministry of the Environment, and sites from the brownfields database, CENIA (the project implementer) will carry out an initial analysis of information sources, including evaluation of Earth observation/remote sensing materials, field reconnaissance, photographic documentation, and local inquiries (municipal office, residents, Czech Environmental Inspectorate). For sites not yet recorded, a new SEKM database entry will be created with a priority rating. In cases where sampling is needed to confirm or refute suspected contamination at a given site, indicative analyses for the presence of contaminants, evaluation of analyses, and the preparation of an expert report (preliminary survey report, environmental audit, etc.) will be commissioned from specialists with the appropriate professional qualifications. Over the 2.5-year duration of the project, 375 samples and analyses are planned, aimed at excluding contamination or demonstrating the level and basic characteristics of contamination at 120 sites. The project activities will also test a reduced survey scope in the form of an initial preliminary survey, i.e. an environmental audit form.
The project will run from 08/2025 to 12/2027 and contributes to meeting the requirements of European legislation in the field of soil and water protection.
Expected project outputs:
- Collection of information (monitoring, submissions, alerts, and complaints) for 340 sites and their subsequent verification through detailed desk research;
- Verification of approximately 170 sites by local inquiry (80 from the brownfields database and 90 from other information sources, from the public, or based on submissions from the Ministry of the Environment);
- Preliminary survey and entry in the SEKM database for 120 contaminated or potentially contaminated sites;
- Confirmation of contamination or suspicion of contamination and assignment of priority in new or updated SEKM records for 60 contaminated or potentially contaminated sites (30 entries expected to originate from the brownfields database and 30 from other sources).
The project will verify the use of a more efficient and cost-effective preliminary survey methodology with the aim of enabling rapid and targeted future updates of the database at lower cost. At the same time, it will create an expert foundation for further monitoring and reporting in accordance with forthcoming European legislation (the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive). The project outputs will be continuously published in the SEKM database for the needs of both professional and general public audiences.
Project implementer: Czech Environmental Information Agency (CENIA)
Project registration number: 1250200002
Project manager:
Zdeněk Suchánek, zdenek.suchanek@cenia.gov.cz
