The article deals with legal aspects of contaminated land. The author draw attention to the fact that the legislator divided land damage into historical land contamination and land damage, with a decisive role of the date of their occurrence or the event causing them. In relation to this division, the author first presents common subjects, and then issues related to historical land contamination and land damage. In both cases, the analysis focuses on key issues: damage evaluation criteria, damage identification, the entity held accountable for the damage, remedial actions. The point of reference is primarily the provisions of the Act of 13 April 2007 on Prevention and Remediation of Environmental Damage and the Act of 27 April 2001
– the Environmental Protection Law.