§ Sir Bernard Braineasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in view of his overall responsibility for safeguarding the environment and his quasi-judicial powers in respect of planning, he has sought information in respect of the leakage of methane gas stored on Canvey Island; what discussions he has had, or plans to hold, about the future location of such storage; and what co-ordination exists between the planning functions of his Department and the Health and Safety Commission to ensure that existing risks to the safety of the residential population of Canvey Island are not compounded by the introduction of new high fire risk installations and an increase in the handling and transportation of dangerous and inflammable products.
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§ Mr. CroslandI have already written to the hon. Member about the methane gas stored on Canvey Island.
There is full co-operation between my Department and the Health and Safety Commission on safeguarding the population on Canvey Island. The Health and Safety Commission is advised by a Committee studying types of installations which may present major hazards to employees or the public. My Department is represented on this Committee.