§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of former gaswork and gasometer sites that are known to be contaminated with benzene.
§ Mr. TrippierThe Department keeps no such records centrally. In 1988 the Department published a report entitled "Problems arising from the Redevelopment of Gasworks and Similar Sites" in which it was estimated that the total number of sites in the United Kingdom formerly used for coal-gas production could be about 3,000. Benzene is a possible by-product of the processes sometimes associated with former gasworks sites.
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 local authorities will be placed under a duty to keep registers of potentially contaminated sites including former gasworks sites.