HL Deb 21 March 1989 vol 505 cc675-6WA
Lord Brougham and Vaux

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they expect to publish Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution's Report on the investigation into the disposal of wastes from the Capper Pass factory on North Humberside.

The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Caithness)

This report is being published today and copies are being placed in the Library of the House. The report concludes that there is no evidence from environmental monitoring data, predicted atmospheric dispersion patterns, radiological assessments and epidemiological studies to link the reported childhood leukaemia excesses in villages to the West of Hull with discharges to atmosphere of polonium 210 or arsenic from Capper Pass. It also concludes that concentrations of antimony, lead, copper, tin and zinc in the locality are low and unlikely to cause any adverse health effects. Further attention should be given to limiting cadmium discharges, although the concentration of cadmium in the atmosphere close to Capper Pass has been steadily reduced since 1978.