§ Lord Inglewoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether following the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001 in Cumbria the county council, the environmental health departments, the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should jointly consider what might be done to map where materials are buried and where necessary to address any safety issues that may emerge. [HL32]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)Defra holds centralised databases relating to the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak of all sites where materials are known to have been buried during the cleansing and disinfection operations and of those where either animal carcases or ash resulting from pyres are buried. The databases are supported by detailed files held in local animal health divisional offices.
Defra is in the process of letting a tender to rank by risk all the sites with buried material derived from cleansing and disinfection in order to identify where further investigation and/or remedial action is needed for the protection of the environment and human health. The Environment Agency will be involved in agreeing the results of the risk assessment for these sites.
Defra is also in the process of letting a second tender, to review existing risk assessments at all carcass and ash burial sites and, where necessary, to undertake further site-specific risk assessments, in order to meet statutory obligations under the Groundwater Regulations 1998. In addition, the department is monitoring, through contracted environmental 23WA consultants, the quality of controlled water in the vicinity of 60 FM D disposal sites. As a separate exercise, the Environment Agency is in the process of visiting all sites that were granted an authorisation under the Groundwater Regulations for the burial of carcasses or ash during the outbreak as part of the review process necessary for groundwater authorisations.