Waste trucks were impounded
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by Kay Hill • Four hauliers may be prosecuted for delivering contaminated earth to a waste disposal site.
Bedfordshire County Council is awaiting analysis of the loads before deciding whether to take further action. The council was called in last month following routine checks at the Shanks & McEwanowned Brogborough disposal site. Soil in more than half of the 30 trucks delivering from a former power station was found to be contaminated.
Sixteen trucks were impounded, held for 24 hours, and then diverted to a nearby toxic-waste site.They were hauling for Mitcham-based A&J Bull. Shanks & McEwan says that there were "very low levels of chemical contamination present in all the soil, but the earth carried by the other vehicles was safe enough to put into a normal Landfill site".
It believes the risk to drivers is minimal although one suffered from painful eyes and another suffered an inflamed hand which became contaminated while he was sheeting his truck. "The only danger from the loads was a longterm environmental danger if the chemicals seeped in the water supply after being disposed of," the company adds.
The council's waste regulation officer, David Young, says: "It may be that no offence has been committed."