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To facilitate fi eld surveys for identifying areas of incineration residue-derived soil contamination, a simple and convenient method with a soil electrical conductivity meter was examined. First, the leaching test specifi ed by Notifi cation No. 13 of the Ministry of the Environment, 1973, was conducted on 506 samples of 11 types of wastes and compost, and the relationship between the concentrations of toxic elements [total Hg (T-Hg), Cd, Pb, Cr 6+ , and As] and values of electrical conductivity (EC) was examined. The results showed that bottom ash and fl y ash were wastes with high EC values and that these wastes indicated higher levels of toxic elements. Second, an estimation method for the soil EC value of contaminated soil (ECc) was proposed based on the EC values of noncontaminated soil, and its usefulness was examined. The results of fi eld surveys conducted at sites whose soils were suspected of contamination by dioxins and other pollutants derived from incineration residues showed that the contaminated spots and areas were identifi ed by using ECc values. Moreover, comparison of the elemental contents of soils in terms of Cr, Ni, Zn, Na, K, Ca, Fe, Mn, and others, in addition to the above-mentioned toxic elements (excluding Cr 6+ ), with those of the potential sources of pollution was verifi ed to be effective for identifying the source of soil contamination.