Toxic quarry site that could cost tens of millions to remediate ‘isn’t contaminated after all’ claims local council

Martin Shipton

A decades-long row over how to make safe a disused quarry polluted with toxic chemicals has taken an unexpected turn with the local council claiming that the site is not contaminated after all.

Last year a senior pollution control officer working for Caerphilly County Borough Council estimated that cleaning up Ty Llwyd Quarry near Ynydddu in the Sirhowy valley could cost as much as tens of millions of pounds.

In 1970 the quarry began to take toxic waste from many sources, including Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) from the American biotechnology giant Monsanto’s manufacturing plant on the banks of the River Usk at Newport. Toxic waste dumping is known to have continued for two years.

Carcinogenic

After the tipping ended in 1972, attempts to prevent PCBs – which are carcinogenic and hormone disrupting – and other toxic chemicals leaking from Ty Llwyd Quarry by covering it with an “interim cap” were unsuccessful, with water penetrating the waste and escaping from the site through cracks in surrounding rocks.

Evidence of the site leaking toxic chemicals was documented in 1989 when several springs and wells were found to be contaminated.

In 2001, a report explicitly stated that the site was contaminated land. In 2016 and 2018 consultants investigated further leaks from the site, and in 2022, analysis of samples from the site taken by Caerphilly council tested positive for six different PCBs.

Campaigners insist that toxic leachate continues to be discharged from the tip into a community woodland.

Now, however, two local councillors who have backed the residents’ campaign for remediation have been told by the Welsh Government’s environmental quality and regulation branch that a preliminary conclusion has been reached that the quarry site “does not meet the definition of ‘contaminated land’.”

The letter, received by councillors Janine Reed and Jan Jones, stated: “The Ty Llwyd former quarry and landfill site was purchased by the council during the 1990s to allow better management of environmental risks. During wet weather in the winter of 2022/23 and 2023/24 the leachate management system has on occasions failed, allowing diluted leachate to escape the site and enter adjacent woodland (which is also owned by the council).

“Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the council have investigated these incidents and have analysed floodwater leaving the site. NRW’s test results indicate that chemicals within the effluent were not found to have impacted local water courses significantly, primarily due to their dilution from heavy rainfall during the storm event.

“The council, with support from contractors, has recently assessed the site … while also preparing a remediation options appraisal. The draft report is currently being assessed by NRW and Public Health Wales, However the draft findings have concluded the site does not meet the statutory definition of ‘contaminated land’. Alongside this process the council is also discussing the requirement from NRW to have an environmental permit to help manage future discharges.

“The site has attracted considerable political interest and interest from a small number of environmental activists who continue to express concerns around the discharge of diluted leachate from the site. This has also led to media coverage including a BBC Countryfile article and BBC Radio 4 podcast.”

Scepticism

In a letter to Caerphilly council’s corporate director for economy and the environment Mark S Williams, Cllr Reed stated: “Both Cllr Jones and I are pleased the site is deemed not contaminated, and would like a date for when the six foot spiky green metal fence, aeration chamber and CCTV cameras will be removed from Pantyffynnon Community Woodland, which were installed by Groundwork Caerphilly in 2004/5 using public money for the community to freely access.”.

Expressing scepticism about the finding that the land was not contaminated, Cllr Reed drew attention to a number of experts and reports who had raised concerns about the plant:

* A list of dangerous chemicals found at Pantyffynnon Community Woodland by academics and Greenpeace;

* An academic from Manchester University who found high levels of PCBs in Pantyffynnon Community Woodland as outlined in Radio 4’s Buried: the Last Witness;

* A warning letter from NRW threatening future prosecution in the event of further breaches of pollution limits;

* The compulsory purchase of Pantyffynnon Farm and animals slaughtered;

* The removal of allotments below Pantyffynnon Farm from public use; and * The council removing access into Pantyffynnon Community Woodland, with a six foot spikey metal fence plus CCTV surveillance cameras.

A spokesperson for Caerphilly council said the authority had nothing to add to what had been said by the Welsh Government’s pollution official.