Trained on Nelson's 30+ year project history & technical library
Nelson's AI team member
Tool guide · 2026
By
, Chief Marketing Officer
October 28, 2026
A contamination record rarely tells the whole story on its own. Location, contaminant family, regulatory context and the source behind the record all matter. The Hub brings public contamination data across Canada and the United States into linked maps and jurisdiction pages, giving site owners, consultants and researchers a clearer starting point for investigation.
The Hub is Nelson's public contamination-map library. It connects PFAS, petroleum hydrocarbon and military contaminated-site maps with state, provincial and territorial pages. Those pages give the geographic context that a continental map cannot provide on its own.
The maps compile published records rather than replace the agencies that maintain them. The data documentation explains sources, coverage and refresh information. A mapped location may represent a drinking-water result, a release incident, an inventory entry or another published record. Read its category before drawing conclusions about a property.
For a consultant, The Hub can help frame a desktop review before selecting records to investigate further. For a property owner, it can make the conversation with an environmental professional more specific. For a researcher or public-sector team, it offers a consistent entry point into records that otherwise sit across separate government systems.
Its practical value is traceability: move from a regional pattern to a record, then back to the published source. That sequence helps distinguish reported evidence from an assumption. It does not establish liability, contamination on a neighbouring parcel or the need for a particular remedy.
Begin with the question you need to answer. A broad inventory review and a specific property investigation require different levels of detail.
Open The Hub and choose the PFAS, hydrocarbon or military contamination map that matches your research question.
Move to the state, province or area of interest. Use the map's available filters to narrow the records rather than treating all pins as the same kind of evidence.
Switch between Density heat map and Site pins. Density helps reveal geographic patterns; site pins let you inspect individual records. Click a cluster to move closer, then open a record.
Read the record's category and available details. Follow its source link and check what the original agency actually reports, including dates, status and any qualification.
Open the relevant jurisdiction page for local context and references. Confirm the current requirements with the regulator before applying them to a project.
Check the data documentation and licence before citing or reusing material. Record the source and retrieval date alongside your research notes.
Suppose you are reviewing a former fuel-storage property in Alberta or North Dakota. Start with the hydrocarbon map, narrow to the area, and inspect the available records. Separate a recorded release from an inventory listing, then follow the source to understand the event or site's reported status.
The next useful questions concern the property itself: what investigations exist, which petroleum fractions were tested, where groundwater sits, and what receptors need protection. Nearby records can inform those questions. They cannot establish the condition of your site or substitute for sampling.
No pin means no matching record is shown within the selected datasets and filters. It does not mean the soil, water or property is clean. Coverage, reporting practices and dataset dates differ across jurisdictions. Multiple entries can also describe different aspects of one location, so map counts should not automatically be read as unique contaminated properties.
The Hub supports preliminary research. It is not a Phase I or Phase II environmental site assessment, a laboratory result, legal advice or regulatory clearance. Decisions about acquisition, excavation, treatment and disposal need site-specific evidence and qualified interpretation.
Once the records and site investigations identify a credible concern, Navigator can help you explore how contaminant chemistry, affected material and site constraints shape candidate approaches. Keep the distinction clear: The Hub shows reported regional evidence; Navigator helps organize a treatment discussion using conditions you select.
Bring the original records and any assessment reports to that discussion. A defensible remediation plan still needs confirmed site conditions, applicable criteria and an agreed verification approach.
Sources, tools and further reading
Explore petroleum hydrocarbon records
Explore military contaminated-site records
Check data sources and coverage
The Hub: the North American data library
Plan a Phase II environmental site assessment
Navigator: a practical guide to remediation strategy
FAQ
What is The Hub used for?
Does a nearby pin mean my property is contaminated?
Can The Hub replace an environmental site assessment?No. It supports preliminary research but does not replace historical review, site inspection, sampling, laboratory analysis or qualified environmental interpretation.
Remediation tools
The HubWhat is The Hub contamination data library?
Navigator: a practical guide to remediation strategyWhat is Remediation Strategy Navigator?
Read Next
Newsletter•2026The Ground Truth: Warren Nelson's remediation newsletter
Product•2026The Hub: One Window Into Contamination Data Across North America
Project Case Study•2026Tioga: Anatomy of a Cleanup
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The Hub helps readers explore published contamination records across Canada and the United States, inspect source information and find jurisdiction context for further investigation.
No. A pin describes a published record at its reported location. It does not establish contamination on neighbouring land. Property-specific assessment and sampling are needed.