Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will detail the amount of PCBs in the consents from Welsh Water for Rechem to discharge into the Ponthir treatment works near Pontypool; and if he will summarise the results for 1988 and 1989 of tests carried out on the aqueous effluent by Welsh Water.
§ Mr. GristThe consent granted to Rechem International Ltd. to discharge effluent to the Ponthir sewage treatment works includes a maximum concentration of 5 microgrammes per litre of polychlorinated biphenyls (a level which is lower than that normally present in human blood). The average concentration of PCBs in the effluent in the 42 samples taken and analysed by the Welsh water authority from March 1988 to September 1989 was less than half the maximum admissible level.