§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many unauthorised emissions of leachate have taken place from landfill waste sites to the environment in Scotland over the last five years; and if he will provide details of where they have taken place and the names of the site owners;
(2) how many formal compliance notices have been issued by waste disposal authorities to landfill waste site operators in Scotland, together with details of why these notices were served and the names of the site operators concerned.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThis information is not held centrally. I refer the hon. Member to the river purification authorities and the district and island councils, which have statutory responsibility for these matters.
§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases there have been of pollution of water courses and drinking water supplies by leachate from landfill waste sites in Scotland during the past five years, with details of the extent and source of pollution and the names of the site owners responsible.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonRiver purification authorities are responsible for investigating any incidents of water pollution by leachate. Information on incidents is contained in their annual reports, copies of which are held in the Library.
Public drinking water supplies in Scotland are unlikely to be affected by leachate from landfill sites and no reports 233W of such incidents have been received since 21 December 1990 when the water authorities were first required formally to report significant failures of drinking water quality in public supplies. Prior to that date, comprehensive information about incidents of this nature was not held centrally.