250,000 Tonnes of Toxic Waste Coming This Way
On the 1st of November the Mail on Sunday broke with a front page story of an approach by the Olympic Development Authority to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) for permission to dump a quarter of a millions tonnes of toxic waste soil in Scotland.
The soil which was contaminated by oil and diesel has been excavated from the 2012 Olympic site and was originally thought to be heading to a landfill site in Bedfordshire. If SEPA gives permission the lorries will start travelling the 423 mile journey from London to Falkirk in December resulting in around 20000 lorry movements of toxic waste coming within 5 miles of Lenzie.
For obvious reasons the Scottish environmental community was incensed. We contacted Robin Harper who told Lenzie.org.uk “this is not the legacy from the Olympics we would like to see in Scotland. This brownfield pollution should have been treated on site as soon as it was cleared. If they no longer have the time to do it before construction starts, it should be treated locally, and used locally.” If the source of the toxic waste is from an area of Stratford in East London it is according to the BBC where “a quantity of radioactive material was dumped in 1972 and 1994.”
As soon as the news broke, the newsgroups of the web started buzzing. What no one could understand was why anyone could justify transporting the waste some 350 miles from London to Falkirk. Robin Harper's was very clear: “The cost to the environment alone of transporting it to Scotland should rule the idea out. Another example of government's total inability to calculate and address environmental costs and realities.”
The £80m bill for landfill charges for removing hazardous waste from the Olympic park site adds to the controversy over the £9.3billion estimated cost of the “British” Olympics and continuing concerns that Scotland will not get its fair share of the spending despite being expected to share a proportionate amount of the costs.
By: Amy Lydale
