Image from Morgan Sindall – the contractors digging the big BEPPS2 hole.
Many thanks to supporters we put up a legal challenge against Sellafield digging a big hole and discharging the resulting chemically and radioactively contaminated waters to the rivers and sea.
The big hole is to accommodate a new storage building called BEPPS2 for some of the most hazardous wastes at Sellafield.
No one begrudges Sellafield moving waste around the site into safer containment but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the environment and people’s health with zero scrutiny from the regulators. So much so that there were no hydrological or geological impact surveys on the impacts of contaminated groundwater resulting from the excavation.
The excavated 44 tonnes of soil and aggregate has been quietly taken offsite for “recycling” to the public realm, for schools, parks, garden centres whatever!
With your help we put up a strong legal challenge with lawyers Leigh Day about the lack of hydrological/geological impact surveys which was unexpectedly halted when Sellafield announced they had already done the work (despite the ongoing legal challenge), so they wouldn’t need an abstraction licence from the Environment Agency after all (!!)
We asked under Freedom of Information about the 44 tonnes excavated and Sellafiield said it has gone to a local recycling centre, called G and M Lawson. This company provides the public with top soil for garden centres, schools, anyone who wants to buy “recycled aggregates, sub-base, top soil and sand.”
So we asked: “Were tests for both chemical and radioactive contamination carried out by an independent assessor (not Sellafield) over smaller batches of up to one cubic metre or averaged out over the approximately 44 tonnes?”
Sellafield rather snippily replied: “We have previously responded to questions regarding excavated materials. Our monitoring confirmed that the material was not radiologically contaminated. We feel that we have fulfilled your requests for information on this subject and will now close this request.”
This does not answer our questions so we have asked today for an Internal Review….
“I am writing to request an internal review of Sellafield Limited’s handling of my FOI request ‘BEPPS2 Excavated Material : Were tests for chemical and radioactive contamination carried out by independent assessor’.
Given the close proximity to the leaking Magnox Silos (1000 m – tritium is known to have travelled more than twice as far to the beach springs on the other side of the river Ehen) ) were tests for chemical and radioactive contamination carried out by an independent assessor (not Sellafield) over smaller batches of one cubic metre or averaged out over large consignments?
Sellafield have replied that “ Our monitoring confirmed that the material was not radiologically contaminated.” This does not answer the question: “were tests for chemical and radioactive contamination carried out by an independent assessor (not Sellafield) over smaller batches of one cubic metre or averaged out over large consignments?”
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A full history of the FOI request and all correspondence is available here:: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b…“
References below
Radioactivity travelling 2,600 metres in groundwater reference: https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/104…
Environment Agency – “Significant contamination” including Strontium 90 in the River Calder from leaking Magnox Siloshttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62c59990e90e077485f50a0e/KP3690SX_V012_MSSS_improvement_requirement_Decision_Document.pdf
BBC Article: Leak is Sellafield’s biggest environmental issue: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgy77y21djo
Excavated material sent to local recycling centre despite close proximity to leaking Magnox Siloshttps://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/excavated_material_from_7_metre#outgoing-2135754
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