Archived press release

Greenwich Millennium Site Gives British Gas Golden Opportunity For Fresh Approach

29 February 1996

Friends of the Earth has called on British Gas to turn over a new leaf and set a precedent for the treatment of contaminated land in the UK by cleaning up the old gas works at the Greenwich Millennium site to the highest standards [1].

Alan Watson, Senior Industry and Pollution Campaigner for Friends of the Earth said today:

"This is a golden opportunity to use state of the art British technology to clean up this showpiece Millennium site to the highest standard. The remediation of contaminated land is one of the fastest growing areas of expenditure and employment in the environmental field. It is vital that the UK catches up with the international competition in this business to enable the export of expertise and technology in the future. If British Gas fail to grasp this opportunity the Millennium site will be quite literally tarred with a toxic legacy."

Tomorrow the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) will release their long awaited report on soil and contaminated land. Friends of the Earth anticipate considerable support from RCEP for proper clean up of contamination. ENDS

\continues Notes to the Editor

[1] Standards of clean up for contaminated land are much higher in many European countries than in the UK. Friends of the Earth are concerned that the current clean up' techniques commonly used in the UK (taking contaminated material to a landfill site or encapsulation' on site only store up problems for future generations. Furthermore these practices are not allowing British companies to develop the experience and track record that would allow them to compete Europe wide in a large and growing market.

Even though the development of the site is to be assisted by the Millennium Fund the Polluter Pays' principle should still be applied and British Gas, who will benefit in any case from the development of the site, should meet the costs of remediation.

Over the last four years British Gas has set money aside to deal with contaminated land. However serious doubt remains as to whether this money is enough. British Gas has prioritised approximately a third of its more than 1000 former gas production sites for further investigation according to their potential for contaminating neighbouring properties. Yet British Gas has refused to identify the sites and evaded acknowledging that this seeping pollution is its responsibility. The new Environment Act will mean that if British Gas can be identified as the original [polluter of a site next to a former gasworks, it may incur clean up and compensation costs for that offsite pollution.

The site is contaminated by the former operations of a coal gas (town gas) manufacturing plant. Many hundreds of these polluted sites exist across the country. A study by Friends of the Earth has identified 68 sites in the London area alone which were previously used for the production of town gas. The study showed that local authorities and even British Gas themselves were unaware of the existence of several of these sites.

Land used for the production of town gas is often heavily contaminated and may pose a threat to both human health and the environment. At least thirty of the London sites have now been partially or completely redeveloped. It is likely that in several of these cases there was insufficient site investigation and inappropriate remedial measures.

Many of the sites are listed as currently vacant or derelict. These may be posing a threat either to human health or to the environment. The situation in the rest of the country, where there may be up to 5000 sites previously used for the production of town gas, is likely to be similar to that in London.

ENDS

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust