Sutton Walls toxic Monsanto PCB dump contaminated land
Case reference EIR2023/00979
Published 23 June 2023
Request
Please release all detail, including dates and full content, for all liaison or any other kind of communication regarding Sutton Walls or any other of the Monsanto toxic chemical dump sites, from 1/1/23 to the date of formal reply to this request, between Herefordshire Council and 1. Environment Agency 2. Natural Resources Wales 3. Defra, including Ministerial communication 4. Arcadis 5. former personnel of any of the above 6. any Bayer or former Monsanto personnel, including Mark Buckingham who has reportedly been in contact with Telford and Wrexham councils about their Monsanto chemical barrel dump sites
Please confirm on what date Monsanto's senior scientific expressed concern about Sutton Walls PCB dump was first known to Herefordshire Council or any predecessor bodies.
Please confirm how NRA designation of Sutton Walls as contaminated land alongside Brofiscin and Maendy contained in EALit national summary was reversed by Herefordshire Council, having regard to two known toxic chemical regular seasonal flows at Sutton Walls from underneath the cap inside the site out across public-used pathways into surrounding fields. The significance is clear, as a contemporary news report draws preliminary attention to regarding the crop field.
Were these flows even investigated by Arcadis and sediment samples tested at scientific minimum detection levels, such as those analysed by ALS as surprisingly opposed to Socotec?
Response
Further to our previous correspondence, your request has now been considered and the council's response is set out below:
Please release all detail, including dates and full content, for all liaison or any other kind of communication regarding Sutton Walls or any other of the Monsanto toxic chemical dump sites, from 1/1/23 to the date of formal reply to this request, between Herefordshire Council and 1. Environment Agency 2. Natural Resources Wales 3. Defra, including Ministerial communication 4. Arcadis 5. former personnel of any of the above 6. any Bayer or former Monsanto personnel, including Mark Buckingham who has reportedly been in contact with Telford and Wrexham councils about their Monsanto chemical barrel dump sites
A: No communication held
Please confirm on what date Monsanto's senior scientific expressed concern about Sutton Walls PCB dump was first known to Herefordshire Council or any predecessor bodies.
A: Unknown. Insofar as we are aware, there is no record of such communications in our records.
Please confirm how NRA designation of Sutton Walls as contaminated land alongside Brofiscin and Maendy contained in EALit national summary was reversed by Herefordshire Council, having regard to two known toxic chemical regular seasonal flows at Sutton Walls from underneath the cap inside the site out across public-used pathways into surrounding fields. The significance is clear, as a contemporary news report draws preliminary attention to regarding the crop field.
A: Regulations with regard to the determination of sites as 'contaminated land' were brought about by Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as inserted by the Environment Act 1995. Part 2A came in to force in 2000 and the Sutton Walls site was not determined under this Act to be contaminated land. As The National Rivers Authority ceased to exist in 1996, it is not clear what designation or determination is being referred to in the question.
Ephemeral flows found at footpaths which cross the site and in nearby fields have been subject to investigation, analyses and assessment in accordance with Part 2A guidance.
Were these flows even investigated by Arcadis and sediment samples tested at scientific minimum detection levels, such as those analysed by ALS as surprisingly opposed to Socotec?
A: Representative surface water features are considered in the context of Part 2A. Minimum Detection Levels are not necessarily appropriate for this purpose as Part 2A is risk assessment process. It is not intended to demonstrate the absence or presence of compounds to the limit of what laboratories can achieve unless it forms a valid part of the risk assessment.
Disclaimer: This information is based on that currently readily available to the County of Herefordshire District Council. It is given on the strict understanding that the Council, nor any of its Officers, warrant the accuracy of this information, or accept any liability whatsoever for any error or omission therein, or any loss or damage arising from the interpretation or use of the information supplied. The Enquirer should rely on the results of their own investigations.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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