§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the text of the recent letter sent to the Major of Rotherham, Councillor Ron Hughes, by his right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside concerning his Department's involvement in the problem of toxic wastes imported to Wath Recycling in Rotherham.
§ Mr. TrippierCouncillor Hughes wrote to me, at the close of his year of office as Mayor of Rotherham, seeking an announcement about a solution to the problem of imported wastes at Wath Recycling. I replied to him on 18 May explaining that we have been working closely with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to secure a settlement between the parties to avoid lengthy litigation. This involves a programme of action to secure the return of as much waste as possible to the USA and to deal with the remainder in an environmentally sound manner. Agreement to any such programme still depends on a number of aspects under investigation.
I invited Councillor Hughes and local hon. Members to make my letter public if they wished and I am sending the hon. Member a copy.