Tougher monitoring of historic waste sites backed despite ‘misinformation’ claims

Councillors have unanimously backed tougher monitoring of historic industrial waste sites despite claims a BBC documentary was “scaremongering” over potential contamination.

The accusation was levelled at the documentary, Buried, which brought the issue to the fore, as well as calls to investigate dumping cases individually rather than as one large issue.

A Notice of Motion from Wrexham County Borough Council’s Independent Group was put before full council on Wednesday.

Following amendments by Plaid Cymru and Labour the final notice called for the authority to:

• Listen to and acknowledge local concerns regarding potentially contaminated land and ensure residents are provided with appropriate information about the steps being taken including access to free PCB testing (polychlorinated biphenyls) and support for current and former emergency service personnel who may have been exposed and their families.
• Make representations to Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales and other relevant bodies seeking a collaborative, county-wide approach to identifying, investigating, monitoring and addressing contaminated land issues.
• Seek discussions with relevant public bodies and landowners to establish a clearer framework for cooperation, information sharing and prioritisation of sites where there concerns.
• Seek funding to enable Wrexham Council and relevant partners to undertake appropriate environmental investigations and risk assessments across identified sites.
• Make contaminated land safe and suitable for its intended use wherever reasonably practicable.
• Bring a report to full council in December 2026 setting out the council’s responsibilities in relation to potentially contaminated sites, the organisations responsible for other relevant sites, known or ongoing investigations and potential funding opportunities.
• That the results of all environmental testing and analysis relating to contaminants identified on potentially contaminated land within Wrexham County Borough be published and made accessible to the public.
• That where investigation establishes that a person or company is an appropriate person with legal responsibility for remediation under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the council takes all reasonable and proportionate steps to secure the necessary investigation, testing, monitoring and remediation of the affected land and recover any costs for which that person or company is legally liable.
• Relevant ward councillors should be involved in identifying and prioritising potentially contaminated sites within their wards.

Across the chamber there was support for the motion but Cllr Rondo Roberts said that – as a former water treatment controller – each dumping site should be investigated individually and not as part of a single Wrexham-wide investigation, in order to determine which businesses were responsible for dumping at which sites.

“I feel that the spotlight on Wrexham at the moment is very misleading in places,” he said. “Every area that has been affected needs to be investigated individually.

“It’s a lot of scaremongering that’s gone on from the programme, a lot of misinformation, a lack of clarity on what they have been pertaining to be fact.

“I fully support the motion but I feel that each case has got to be investigated individually.

“Yes, PCBs were brought from South Wales but they were deposited around – not in – Llwyneinion Pool. So there’s areas around Llwyneinion which have probably got PCBs in them.“

Some residents living near suspected contaminated sites in Wrexham have joined the Monsanto Contamination Action Group and launched a petition at petitions.senedd.wales/petitions calling for Welsh Government to order blood, soil and water testing in areas of concern following Michael Sheen’s BBC programme.

Cllr Derek Wright, representing Cefn, said he had personal experience of the impact of harmful chemical production in Wrexham and said the council had to take a realistic approach to the problem.

“I have lived in the Cefn area all my life,” he said. “My father, two brothers and two brothers-in-law all worked there and received their gold watches for over 25 years service.

“In the year 2000, my brother died aged 48 from bowel cancer. I believe he contracted it at Monsanto because where he worked, he handled many carcinogenic materials. He bagged and blended them.

“All the jobs they had there were very well paid and the company provided an excellent pension scheme for everyone. But no one should die from simply going to work and doing their job.

“We who live in Acrefair, Cefn, Newbridge and Rhosymedre all had to put up with unmentionable gas leaks in the 50s and 60s. It made your eyes water like you were crying uncontrollably and ammonia would literally made you choke as though all the air had been taken out of the atmosphere.

“Since the (Monsanto) site shut down in 2011, Cefn Community Council has had dialogue with the people in charge of the site now. They have made promises but delivered virtually nothing to enhance our community.

“There are around 10 sites I feel need to be tested and results published along with the safe limits for each chemical found. From my research Monsanto didn’tstart using PCBs until the 1940s therefore there is likely to be a host of other carcinogenic substances which need to be identified and the safe limits published.

“Just a stone’s throw from Ty Mawr Country Park, there are three areas I believe were settling ponds from the waste in Monsanto, one of which has always been fenced off. Wrexham Council had the fence renewed in about 2014 and is still fenced off now.

“What is in there? The fence is only three foot, there’s no signs on to say chemicals that are in there or why they’re fenced off.

“One of the ponds has now become a public footpath and it’s less than 130 yards away from the River Dee.

“Dogs are walking across them, people with children are walking across them, yet to my knowledge, there have never been any publicised tests of what is in those lagoons, or what used to be lagoons.

But Cllr Wright did agree with Cllr Roberts in questioning the severity of the situation.

“I agree with Rondo,” he said, “I feel the Buried programme overdramatised the situation we face in Cefn and I believe a realistic approach needs to be taken.”