AN MP has made a call to the Prime Minister to take action to ensure there is a clear up of toxic waste dumped across swathes of Clydeside which “immediate and long-term risks to human health.
Ged Killen,has called on the UK Government to give a commitment that EU funding used by regeneration agency Clyde Gateway to remediate and redevelop contaminated land in areas of Rutherglen and Cambuslang will be protected post-Brexit.
Officials have long known massive concentrations of cancer-causing Chromium-VI - the poison made famous by the Hollywood movie Erin Brockovich - were buried under Glasgow and South Lanarkshire.
In a briefing to MPs, MSPs and councillors, executives at regeneration agency Clyde Gateway have confirmed the deposits are leaching in to the west of Scotland’s river system “whenever it rains”.
They stressed, “the nature of the contamination poses immediate or long-term risks to human health and the environment through land, surface water or groundwater pollution”.
It came after an entire stream, the Polmadie Burn, turned bright green last month in a tell tale symptom of toxic pollution from waste containing chromium-VI or chromium ore processing residue, Clyde Gateway has been working in the area for 10 years and so far has received £6 million in EU funding as well as support from the Scottish Government and South Lanarkshire Council.
Mr Killen, the MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West has called for action at Prime Minister’s Questions wanted Theresa May to guarantee that the UK government will replace any EU funding that may be lost as a result of the UK leaving the European Union.
He said: “The historic issue of chromium contamination caused by J&J White’s Chemical Factory across Rutherglen and Cambuslang is not a new, but it does still pose a serious public health risk and we need assurances that every effort will be made to complete remediation work as soon as possible.
Water running green in March 2019. Picture: Clyde Gateway
"Clyde Gateway have done excellent work so far but it will take tens of millions of pounds to complete and we need a commitment from every level of government that funding and support will be available to get the job done.
“There are many downsides to leaving the EU and one of them is the potential to lose funding sources that were previously available to help remediate and redevelop contaminated land such as we have in the local area.
"The Prime Minister should give a guarantee that the UK Government will replace any funding that may be lost as a result of the UK leaving the European Union, which people in Rutherglen and Hamilton West did not vote for.
“I will also be writing to Scottish Government and the two local councils seeking assurances that they will continue to support Clyde Gateway and bring forward the funding necessary to complete the ongoing work.”
The Prime Minister said: "The honourable gentleman has raised a very specific case in relation to a certain type of funding. I would be very happy to ask the relevant Minister to respond to him on the specifics of that case in relation to his constituency."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel