§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether, since the west Glamorgan medical survey linking opencast mining to high levels of serious illness, he has come across any similar evidence for the County Durham area; what action he intends to take to protect public health; and whether he will consider conducting such a survey in the Durham area.
§ Mr. NichollsI am not aware of any authoritative medical survey linking opencast mining to illness. There is no evidence to suggest that a study in Durham would be worthwhile or likely to find any such connection.