Contaminated Land (Hansard, 26 October 1989)

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on how many occasions sections 65 and 197 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 have been applied to clean up contaminated land; and how much money has been recovered from each polluting party in each case to pay for the clean-up.

§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
Section 65 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 contains discretionary powers 553W exercised by local authorities. There is no requirement to notify the Government when these powers are used and therefore this information is not readily available. Section 197 of the Act does not contain appropriate powers for dealing with contamination.

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on how many occasions sections 9 and 16 of the Control of Pollution Act have been applied to clean up contaminated land; and how much money has been recovered from the polluting party or parties in each case to pay for the clean-up.

§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
No such information is available centrally, and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to evaluate the necessity to use section 115 of the Water Act 1989 to recover costs for the clean-up of contaminated land.

§ Mr. Howard
Section 115 of the Water Act enables the National Rivers Authority to carry out anti-pollution works, including to prevent polluting matter from entering watercourses where it considers this is likely to occur, and to recover the costs it has reasonably incurred from any person responsible. It would therefore be for the authority to consider, in any particular case, the extent to which the use of these powers might be appropriate in dealing with problems of water pollution associated with contaminated land.

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on how many occasions sections 92 to 100 of the Public Health Act 1936 have been applied to clean up contaminated land; and what financial resources have been recovered from the polluting party, or parties in each case to pay for the clean-up.

§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley
Information about the use of sections 92 to 100 of the Public Health Act 1936 by local authorities is not held centrally. It could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Problems of contamination are dealt with by landowners and local authorities depending on the circumstances of each case; Government Departments are not normally consulted.