§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the locations and number per location of BSE diagnosed cattle landfill in Britain. [612]
§ Mr. Rooker[holding answer 21 May 1997]: The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC), which advises Ministers on BSE, considered the issue of BSE and the environment in May last year, including the past disposal of the carcases of cattle affected, or suspected of being affected, with BSE to landfill sites. It considered that although the spongiform encephalopathy agent was not yet fully characterised, there was good evidence to believe that individual molecules were not infectious and that infectivity was associated with macro molecular agglomerations indeed possibly with tissue fragments, albeit small ones. On this basis it concluded
it was unlikely that leachate from landfill sites would present a significant risk and there was certainly no justification for taking heroic measures to excavate sites, even those which had previously been used for material such as BSE-confirmed cattle".The Environment Agencies took over responsibility for the safe regulation of landfill sites in April 1996, and under Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 they monitor ground and surface water quality in the vicinity of licensed landfill sites to check for leachate contamination. The Agencies have carried out a qualitative assessment of all the sites concerned taking into account the number of carcases buried, the degree of containment and the proximity of water sources. They have also carried out a further more detailed quantitative assessment of a selection of sites which were judged from the qualitative assessment to be typical of those sites that appeared to be most vulnerable. The results show that potential risks to be very low, less than one in a million years.
The conclusions of the assessment are in line with the advice previously given to Ministers by SEAC. The Committee has been given the opportunity to comment on the quantitative assessment and has given it its endorsement. The Environment Agencies are now considering how best to publish the report, and related work, and aim to do so shortly.
A list of the locations of the sites concerned and numbers per location is below. No BSE suspects have been disposed of by landfilling since 1991, when sufficient carcase incineration capacity came on stream to process the number of cases that were coming forward:
540W
Number of BSE suspects carcases disposed of Site County Comment 1001–1200 Everleigh Tip, Everleigh, Pewsey Wiltshire Closed 501–1000 Stoney Hill Landfill, Horsehay, Telford Shropshire Closed 401–500 Hill and Moor Landfill Site, Pershore Hereford and Worcester 541W
Number of BSE suspects carcases disposed of Site County Comment 201–400 Wardle Landfill Site, Wardle, Nr. Nantwich Cheshire Closed Arpley Landfill Site, Arpley, Warrington Cheshire Whites Pit, Arrowsmith Rd, Poole Attlebridge Dorset Closed Landfill Site, Attlebridge Welford Quarry Landfill Norfolk Site, Welford Himley Wood Landfill Site, Lwr Northants Gornal Staffs 101–200 Jameson Rd Landfill Site, Fleetwood Lancs Salt Ayre Landfill Site, Lancaster Lancs Winterton Landfill Site, West Haulton, Scunthorpe Lincs Rock Cottage Landfill, Ripon North Yorkshire Closed Gamblethorpe Landfill Site, Newsam Green Rd, Leeds South Yorkshire Closed 51–100 Taddington Landfill Site, Kalton Hill Quarry, Taddington Crich Landfill Site, Crich, Nr Matlock Gainsborough, Lea Rd, Gainsborough Packington Landfill, Little Packington, Meriden 21–50 Butchersfield Landfill Site, Rixton, Warrington Cheshire Blooming Heather, Broughton Moor Cumbria Closed Clifton Marsh, Freckleton Lancashire Rowley Landfill Site, Queen Park Road, Burnley Lancashire Bramford Landfill Site, Ipswich Suffolk Closed Lackford Hall Heath, Lackford, Bury St, Edmunds Suffolk Ryton Landfill, Ryton-on-Dunsmore Warwickshire Closed Darrington Quarry, Darrington Leys, Knottingly North Yorkshire Mickleby Landfill, Near Whitby North Yorkshire 11–20 Stretton Sugwas, Worcester Hereford and Worcester Closed Whinney Hill, Accrington Lancashire South Thoresby, Near Alford Lincolnshire Closed Kirby-on-Bain, Tattershall Road, Kirkby-on-Bain Lincolnshire Leadenham Quarry, Portergate Road, Leadenham Lincolnshire Ingham, Thetford Road, Ingham, Bury St.Edmunds Suffolk Closed
Number of BSE suspects carcases disposed of Site County Comment 11–20 cont. Seamer Carr Landfill Site, Seamer North Yorkshire 6–10 Pluckley Landfill Site, Pluckley, Ashford Kent Closed Kenwick Landfill Site, Kennick Quarry, Louth Lincolnshire Seghill, Northumberland Northumbria Barnstone Landfill Site, Nottinghamshire Works Lane, Lanham Jeniva Landfill Site Hawton, Newark Nottingham-shire Closed Dimmer Landfill Site, Castle Cary Somerset Closed Wetherden Landfill Site, Stowmarket Suffolk Beddingham Landfill Site, Lewes East Sussex 1–5 Nantycaws Refuse Tip Carmarthenshire Stoneyfield, Invergordon Highland Closed Middleton, Forss, Thurso Highland Closed Castletown Tip, Castletown, Thurso Highland Closed Holiday Moss, Rainford, Merseyside Lancashire Morley Greaseworks Site, Dewsbury Road Leeds Closed Nettleton, Woods Hill, Nettleton Lincolnshire Closed Stainby, Crabtree Road, Stainby, Grantham Lincolnshire Boston, Slippery Gowt, Wyberton, Boston Lincolnshire North Forr, Crieff Perthshire Closed Bryn Posteg Landfill Site, Llannidloes Powys Acton Landfill Site, Bears Pit, Sudbury Suffolk Closed Burton Farm Landfill Warwickshire Closed Site, Bishopton, Stratford-on-Avon Lower Spen Valley, Dewsbury West Yorkshire Sugden End Landfill, Crossroads, Keighley West Yorkshire Shroggs Landfill Site, Wheatley, Halifax West Yorkshire Closed Wilson Road Landfill Site, Lowmoor, Bradford West Yorkshire Closed