Fresh call for chemical testing in wake of Michael Sheen’s documentary on contaminated land

The signatories are demanding blood, soil and water testing for various toxic and carcinogenic contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), after the recent BBC documentary series Buried with Michael Sheen renewed calls for the remediation of former industrial sites across Wales.

The letter was sent to Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Dŵr Cymru/Welsh Water, Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC), Public Health Wales (PHW), Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) and the Welsh Government departments responsible for health and social care services and rural resilience and sustainability.

Specific demands are made of each organisation according to its statutory remit. These include a sophisticated round of soil and ground testing by NRW, water testing by Dŵr Cymru, a targeted and voluntary programme of blood testing by PHW, access to raw data from historic cancer cluster studies held by BCUHB, and Welsh Government intervention to expedite these actions.

The urgent request is for NRW to expand its current testing of the Llwyneinion Acid Tar Lagoon in Rhosllanerchrugog and the New Road site in Trevor to all untested sites identified across Cefn Community, Llangollen Rural Ward and Llwyneinion.

In August, the Monsanto Contamination Action Group was formed by affected residents to build local support for remediation, after testing carried out by the Buried documentary team found indicative evidence of elevated PCB levels at multiple sites, as well as in people’s blood.

Alongside Mr Witherden’s signature are those of the MPs for Wrexham and Clwyd East, Welsh Labour leader and Fflint Wrexham MS Ken Skates, and three Labour members of the House of Lords.

They are joined by councillors from across south and west Wrexham, including representatives of WCBC, Cefn Community Council, Llangollen Rural Community Council, Esclusham Community Council and Rhosllanerchrugog Community Council.

Mr Witherden said: “This collective effort shows the determination of our communities to be heard. We are now speaking with one voice, and using it to demand testing.

“While the power to act on these demands is spread across a number of organisations, all are ultimately accountable to the Welsh Government. It can and must coordinate a response.

“For years this issue, like many others, has been ignored because acknowledgment should necessitate action. The story is always the same: nothing to see here.

“It is morally wrong to look away just because you might not like what you see. I call on all the addressed: please, at the very least, help us to see the full picture.”

Last week, Nation.Cymru reported how two campaigning councillors who appeared in Michael Sheen’s documentary had urged their local authority to carry out tests on a site highlighted in the programme.

The Tŷ Llwyd quarry in the village of Ynysddu, Caerphilly county borough, was used in the 1960s and 1970s as a dump site by the now-defunct chemicals manufacturer Monsanto.

PCBs

According to tests undertaken for the Sheen programme, the levels of toxic PCBs found in samples taken at a nearby lay-by were 140 times higher than the background level.

Independent councillors Janine Reed and Jan Jones say tests should be undertaken at the lay-by, which is adjacent to a well-used local footpath.

In a statement, they said: “Why won’t Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) test the layby at Ty Llwyd? That is the simple question residents in Ynysddu are asking.

“Dr David Megson, an esteemed scientist specialising in chemistry and environmental forensics, was approached by the Royal Society of Chemistry to provide scientific expertise to the production team of the BBC’s Buried with Michael Sheen. As part of that work, he carried out sampling around Ty Llwyd and reported elevated levels of PCBs. His findings have raised serious questions about contamination in an area already known to have a history of pollution concerns.”