§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those occupied and unoccupied sites of military bases that his Department has identified as areas of environmental concern, indicating the principle causes of environmental problems on those sites; and if he will place copies of the relevant land quality statements in the Library. [56295]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 3 November 1998]The need for more information on the extent to which the Defence Estate might have been contaminated through being used for military purposes was recognised, and a programme of Land Quality Assessments was initiated in 1996. The scope of this programme is extensive and, given the capacity of specialist firms to undertake this work, it is estimated that this programme could take up to 10 years to complete. Accordingly, effort is being concentrated in the first instance on those sites allocated for disposal.
The provision of LQAs is the responsibility of the unit or organisation occupying the site. No central record of these documents has been maintained. However, arrangements are now being put in place to ensure that the Defence Estate Organisation will, in future, receive copies of all LQAs produced.
At any one time, there are approximately 400 sites in disposal, many of them very small and handled by local offices. It would not be practical to put a copy of every land quality statement in the Library of the House; statements related to specific sites, could, however, by made available on request.