§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what monitoring has been carried on since 1966 in respect of the safety for its current use of the site used as a chemical weapons training and trials facility at South Molton, north Devon, during the second world war; what action has been taken following such monitoring; and if he will make a statement. [31768]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotMy Department has no record of any monitoring having been carried out at the South Molton site. The land in question is no longer part of the defence estate and prior to its return to civilian use any identified contamination relating to its former use involving chemical weapons activities would have been removed. Should the MOD have been alerted to any such contamination being revealed subsequently, we would 357W have taken the measures necessary to remedy the problem. In the case of South Molton we have no record of any such incident.