§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what steps he is taking to improve the treatment of surface water from motorways and other trunk roads so that it does not cause pollution;
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that all surface water run off from (a) existing motorways and (b) new motorways, is properly treated before discharge to the environment; and what are the implications for construction and maintenance costs for ensuring all surface water from motorways is properly treated;
(3) what assessment he has made of the future cost implications to his Department of the out-of-court settlement in respect of the case brought by Mr. Mohamed Al Fayed for pollution of his land by run-off from the M25; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what assessment he has made of the likelihood of future legal actions from people who have suffered as the result of pollution from motorways; and what contingency fund his Department has for such actions.
§ Mr. KeyThese four questions relate to operational matters of the Highways Agency. I have asked the chief executive, Mr. Lawrie Haynes, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Ms Joan Walley, dated 4 May 1994:
The Minister for Roads and Traffic, Mr. Robert Key, has asked me to write to you in reply to your recent four Parliamentary questions about the treatment of surface water from motorways and other trunk roads.The Highways Agency is now responsible for research previously commissioned by the Department of Transport jointly with the National Rivers Authority on the design of highway drainage systems to avoid pollution problems. When the research has been completed I expect to issue advice to designers and those responsible for maintaining the drainage systems.The out-of-court settlement in the case you mentioned reflected the particular circumstances of that case and cannot be taken to have implications for situations elsewhere. The settlement involved damages of £5,000 and agreed works to the drainage system likely to cost in the order of £60,000. In addition there will be legal costs of an amount yet to be agreed.In the case of existing motorways, the arrangements for treating surface water run off before discharge to the environment have been accepted by the relevant water regulatory authority. The arrangements for new motorways will be considered within the environmental assessment and agreed with the water regulatory authority. We are currently reviewing the implications for construction and maintenance costs.The Department does not, in general, assess the likelihood of future legal actions from people who claim to have suffered as a result of pollution from motorways and no contingency fund is kept for such actions.