§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the particular noxious materials which continue to be held by Wath Recycling at Wath upon Dearne, Rotherham.
§ Mr. BaldryWath Recycling handles a range of materials in daily operations under the terms of its licence and subject to monitoring and inspection by the regulatory authorities. The particular waste from the USA now stored on the site contains a range of benzene compounds, such as xylenes.
§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the fire which took place at the Wath Recycling works on 29 April; what assessment he has made of the potential dangers as a result of that incident; and what was the actual distance of the fire from the nearest of those containers which hold the toxic waste of which he is aware.
§ Mr. Trippier[holding answer 7 May 1991]: The fire at the Wath Recycling works, Rotherham, on 29 April 1991 was associated with a furnace in which a vegetable fat was being burnt off from a mixture of the fat and a solid nickel-containing catalyst.
The process is subject to control by HMIP for emissions to atmosphere and is a registered incineration works.
Molten and burning fat escaped from the furnace. The fire was totally contained in the building and in the immediate vicinity of the furnace.
Apart from the normal hazards associated with fire at the time of the incident no further potential dangers are anticipated.
The distance from the building to the stored drummed waste, which had been imported from the USA in 1989, is approximately 18 yd. At no time was there a danger of those drums being involved in the incident.