Soil and ground water pollution originating from contaminated sites represents a serious problem in many countries. States are coping with the problem of old environmental damage in different ways. The sixth Community Environment Action Programme includes the objective to protect natural resources and to promote their sustainable use. The aim of the contribution is to find common principles and rules that are applicable to old environmental damage/orphan contaminated sites remediation. To fulfill the aim, selected part of EC legislation will be analyzed. The analysis will also be focused on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the protection of soil and amending Directive 2004/35/EC.