Product Code Database
Brofiscin Quarry is a disused limestone quarry in Groes-faen, near Llantrisant in South Wales. It was used for about seven years for the dumping of toxic waste including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and was capped in 2011. Some 72,000m3 / 80,000 tonnes of material was dumped here. Prior to its remediation, The Guardian described the site as "one of the most contaminated places in Britain." The level of pollution is such that it featured in an international conference discussing remediation of contaminated land. Contaminated sites Bratislava 2013 These events were described by The Ecologist magazine as "one of the biggest environmental crimes to have occurred in the UK". and the key witness at an Environmental Agency inquiry on 2006 ended up needing to live under police protection. The company using this disposal site also used the nearby Maendy Quarry.
The legislative frameworks prior to 1972 were not designed to deal with hazardous waste and were inadequate. This meant that the local planning department was ill-equipped when a request for planning permission was made in the late 1960s and consent was given. The Poisonous Waste Act 1972 was implemented due to other far smaller occurrences of dumping at other places in the UK.
In 2011 Environment Agency Wales and the Rhondda Cynon Taf council announced that they had decided to place an engineered cap over the waste mass in the quarryRhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council RCTCBC "Brofiscin" site Accessed 1 September 2014 and stated that the cost would be £1.5 million; previous estimates discussed in the media had been as high as £100 million, which Environment Agency Wales had dismissed.BBC, 12 February 2007, 22:48 £100m site clean up cost denied The site was cleared of vegetation and engineering work began in October 2011,BBC 17 October 2011 Brofiscin Quarry waste clean-up starts near Llantrisant and was completed in 2012.Stanley PC. Brofiscin Quarry Remediation Scheme. Cardiff, Wales. International Conference, Contaminated Sites. Bratislava 2013 pp 111-122
On 14 July 2015, it was reported that Monsanto, BP, and Veolia had agreed to pay to contribute to the cleanup of the site, although they continue to deny liability.
The clean-up is an incomplete containment, with a chemical smell still evident in boundary ditches and strong concerns remaining about neighbouring fields.
Geology
It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the exposed Early Carboniferous geological formations on the site.
See also
|
|
