Archived press release

Contaminated Land in Ministers backyard

14 December 1994

A Friends of the Earth report has revealed that 144 secret danger sites currently pose a risk to the constituents of the Environment Minister Robert Atkins [1]. But the new Government policy announced last month means Mr Atkins' constituents will continue to be kept in the dark about contaminated land [2].

Friends of the Earth has today delivered a letter to Mr Atkins, MP for South Ribble, outlining its concerns about the contaminated land policy and detailing the 144 possible pollution blackspots.

Adam Garfunkel, Pollution Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:

"It is very difficult for a member of the public to find out about contaminated land. While Mr Atkins promotes 'business as usual' his constituents are being kept in the dark about contamination. The minister should act to ensure that his own back yard is cleaned up."

The key findings of the report include:

* Of the 144 potentially contaminated sites indentified by the survey 78 sites had not previously been identified by local authorities. The remaining 66 sites were identified by local authority sources (including WRA licensed sites, General Development Order (GDO) consultation sites, Derelict Land survey and the Lancashire Green Audit) but most of this information was not held by the Borough Council;

* Sites with a high probability of contamination have already been redeveloped for residential use: Leyland Bleach works (housing) and the Tardy Gate Tannery (old people's home). These sites which pose a present risk will not be identified by the Government's

CONTACT: ADAM GARFUNKEL (Pollution Campaigner) 071

JUDY YACOUB (Lancashire FoE) 0282 862 980 NEIL VERLANDER (Information Officer) 071

Government publications continue to tell the public:

"You can find out from your local authority if they have information about land which may be contaminated in your area [3]."

South Ribble Borough Council Guide to Services states that "The council maintains registers of contaminated land in the Borough" yet South Ribble District Council Planning Department had no coordinated information on contaminated land and the Environmental Health Department kept no information on contaminated land, nor had they any knowledge regarding problems relating to individual sites.

A Friends of the Earth survey found that a third of all councils held no information on contaminated land [4].

The Government announced a policy review in March which came after it had scrapped proposals for public registers of potentially contaminated land [5]. That review concluded with the Government's publication of the "Framework for Contaminated Land" on 24 November 1994 [6]. Friends of the Earth criticised the Government for already making up its mind on the issue before the review began [7].

The registers, which fell foul of pressure from property developers, would have eventually informed the public about the precise location of the estimated 100,000 contaminated sites in the UK.

Adam Garfunkel continued:

"There is nothing new in the results of the review. The Government reneged on its promises to set up public registers that would have given the public the right to know about land in their area. The Government is sending a clear message to industry: business as usual and damn the public."

Friends of the Earth is calling for:

* public registers of potentially contaminated land;

* an action programme to identify and clean up sites that are actually contaminated;

CONTACT: ADAM GARFUNKEL (Pollution Campaigner) 071

JUDY YACOUB (Lancashire FoE) 0282 862 980 NEIL VERLANDER (Information Officer) 071

PAGE 3 FRIENDS OF THE EARTH 'FoE EMBARRASSES GREEN MINISTER' * the cost of such a programme to be met by the polluter - where the polluter cannot be identified or is unable to pay the cost should be borne by a levy on polluting industry;

* the introduction of strict liability for damage to the environment including the contamination of land;

* the introduction of measures to ensure that the owners of polluted sites clean up to legal standards before leaving.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS: 1. Robert Atkins is the Member of Parliament for the Lancashire constituency of South Ribble. It contains Leyland, Walton-le-Dale and Central Lancashire new town developments.

Summary results are attached. A full list of the sites identified can be obtained from Friends of the Earth.

2. Answer to Parliamentary Question by Stephen Day MP and William Powell MP, 24 November 1994.

The announcement of the review was followed by the publication of 'Paying for our Past', Department of the Environment, March 1994.

3. "Green Rights and Responsibilities: A Citizen's Guide to the Environment" Department of the Environment, section 16, page 29.

4. 'FoE survey reveals widespread ignorance of danger sites - Government advice leads public down blind alley', Friends of the Earth press release, 9 August 1993.

In the survey South Ribble Borough Council replied that "The only information readily identifiable at this time is the list of tip sites within the Borough...". Letter from South Ribble Borough Council to Friends of the Earth, 3 June 1993.

5. Answer to a Parliamentary Question from Mr Warren Hawksley MP, 24 March 93.

6. "Framework for Contaminated Land", 24 November 1994, as referred to in DoE news release 654. This confirms that

CONTACT: ADAM GARFUNKEL (Pollution Campaigner) 071

JUDY YACOUB (Lancashire FoE) 0282 862 980 NEIL VERLANDER (Information Officer) 071

PAGE 4 FRIENDS OF THE EARTH 'FoE EMBARRASSES GREEN MINISTER'

___________________________________________________________ contaminated land identification will be triggered by development. This means that it might take up to 50 years to identify all contaminated land because only 2-5 per cent of property comes up for development each year.

7. 'Deja Vu' consultation on contaminated land, Friends of the Earth press release, 8 March 1994.

CONTACT: ADAM GARFUNKEL (Pollution Campaigner) 071

JUDY YACOUB (Lancashire FoE) 0282 862 980 NEIL VERLANDER (Information Officer) 071

Summary of South Ribble Contaminated Land survey results

Aim of survey

The aim of the study was to produce a list of sites within the Borough which had been subject to contaminative uses.

Results

Friends of the Earth identified 144 sites.

Category Number of sites

Airfields 1 Auto-mechanics/petrol stations 32 Bleaching/dying works 2 Chemical, paint and varnish works 15 Engineering and metals 34 Gas works 2 Landfill and waste transfer sites 32 Power stations 1 Paper mills 2 Printing works 4 Rubber works 7 Sewage treatment works 5 Vehicle manufacturers 7

Total 144

Notes

The survey identified sites that would have been identified under the Schedule of Contaminative Uses printed as Annex C of the consultation paper "Public registers of Land which may be contaminated", DoE/WO May 1991.

Potential Hazards associated with the different land uses identified in the South Ribble Contaminated Land survey

Airfields: Spilt fuel oil, fire-fighting chemicals, buried metals and possibly explosive substances on old wartime airfields.

Auto-mechanics: Vehicle repair and servicing premises. Spilt oils, metals and acids.

Bleaching/dying: Sites which processed cloth. Bleaching agents, chemicals and dyes.

Chemicals/paint and varnish works: This category covers a number of uses from chemical manufacture to timber impregnation works. A wide range of chemicals and hydrocarbon based liquids.

Engineering/metals: Foundries, metals processing and scrap yards. Toxic metals, hydrocarbons/oils and chemicals.

Gasworks: Wide range of hydrocarbons and toxic inorganic compounds.

Landfill/waste transfer: Landfill sites and waste transfer stations. Potentially a wide range of toxic metals, chemical and organic pollutants.

Paper mills: Bleaching agents, possible dyes and organic by- products of paper manufacture/bleaching.

Petrol stations: Hydrocarbons from spills or leaking underground storage tanks.

Power station: Products of combustion, spilt oils and even PCBs from transformer coolant.

Rubber works: Organic and inorganic pollution from rubber processing eg vulcanising and moulding.

Sewage works: Toxic metals, pathogens/micro-organisms.

Vehicle manufacturers: Wide range of toxic metals, chemicals and oils.

Friends of the Earth 'FoE Embarrasses Green Minister' 12 December 1994

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust