asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 10 March (WA 217), upon what basis Lovells was expected to advise the Environment Agency Wales in its claim for remediation of Brofiscin Quarry against Solutia Incorporated in the United States bankruptcy courts when it had not met representatives of EAW or seen statements and supporting evidentiary proofs material to the claim. [HL2474]
Lovells LLP was fully and properly instructed by the Environment Agency to act on its behalf in the United States bankruptcy court proceedings. All pertinent information and documentation was supplied by the Environment Agency. Legal representatives of the Environment Agency and Lovells LLP held regular telephone conferences and exchanged numerous letters and e-mails throughout the proceedings. The Environment Agency is confident that this was a cost-effective and efficient means of communicating with its US lawyers.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the negotiations between Monsanto and the Environment Agency Wales, Monsanto accepted possible United Kingdom liability for Brofiscin Quarry only, deferred to the future with full legal defences. [HL2475]
Brofiscin Quarry is listed as a legacy site in Appendix B to a relationship agreement made between Solutia Inc and Monsanto, approved by the United States bankruptcy court, which allocates environmental liabilities between the companies. This means that if there are any environmental liabilities attributable to Solutia/Monsanto at Brofiscin Quarry, Monsanto will take on those liabilities subject to legal or factual defences available to it in the United Kingdom. Monsanto will also be liable on the same basis and subject to the same defences for other similar but unlisted waste disposal sites in the United Kingdom that received wastes prior to 1997.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment has been made of the quantity of polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins and other toxic chemicals that have leached into the Cardiff aquifer from Brofiscin Quarry; whether this pollution continues; and what action is being taken to protect the water from further pollution. [HL2476]
The Environment Agency has not made an estimate of the quantity of contaminants that have leached into the Miskin aquifer from Brofiscin Quarry. Investigations to date have concentrated on the shallow groundwater regime beneath the quarry, and its interactions with the surface water environment. The conceptual site model report of July 2007 confirms the pollution of controlled waters from the waste mass is ongoing. The Environment Agency is currently conducting a remedial options appraisal in accordance with the relevant legislation and statutory guidance.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
At what levels and under what circumstances they consider dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, especially those typed as aroclors 1242, 1248, 1254 and 1260, to be safe. [HL2572]
The World Health Organisation International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) has recently reviewed the data on the toxicity of polychlorinated biphenyls in its Concise International Chemical Assessment Documents Series. This is available on its website. In this document, a tolerable intake value of 0.02 micrograms per kg per day was derived for an aroclor 1254 mixture.
With regard to dioxins, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) has recommended a tolerable daily intake of two picograms toxic equivalents (TEQ) per kg of body weight per day. This is explained in a statement published on the Food Standards Agency website.
There is no single threshold set for dioxin emissions into the environment. Directive 2000/76/EC on waste incineration sets an emission limit for dioxins of 0.1 nanogram I-TEQ per cubic metre of gaseous releases to air, and emission limit values for discharges to water are set at 0.3 nanogram per litre. The Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulation (EC-850/2004) brought in additional controls on the disposal of waste containing dioxins above a trigger level of 15 micrograms per kg TEQ.