HC Deb 25 February 1999 vol 326 cc413-4W
Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the discovery of mustard gas at the REME depot in Stirling; and if he will list other toxic chemicals found on site. [72752]

Mr. Spellar

[holding answer 24 February 1999]: The issue of the potential of Mustard Gas at the Forthside site came to light during a remediation contract which had been let by Stirling council for the removal of radioactive materials on the site. Excavation works uncovered a glass phial (now known to date from the 1940s), as well as a small quantity of Small Arms Ammunition.

Analysis of the glass phial by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) determined that it was of a type found in a gas sample kit used for instructional purposed during the last war. The phial contents were found to be water. DERA, however, could not rule out the possibility that Mustard Gas at some concentration could have been present in the phial at some stage. A second phial was found on 23 February and this will be subjected to the same analysis and review. EOD inspections are being undertaken when appropriate but the likelihood of many more discoveries is considered to be a low risk.

This concern prompted a further inspection, which has concluded that the risk of additional similar discoveries is low.

Surveys carried out at the site identified that some of the land was contaminated with heavy metals (lead and cadmium), phyto-toxic metals (copper, nickel, zinc and chromium), radioactive material (radium) from former luminising activities, and small quantities of petrol and lubricants consistent with past use of the site. A full list of chemicals detected on the site is as follows:

  • normal background levels of Arsenic
  • occasional detectable levels of Mercury
  • background to highly significant levels of Copper
  • background to highly significant levels of Zinc
  • background to highly significant levels of Lead
  • traceable quantities of Nickel
  • traceable quantities of Cadmium
  • traceable quantities of Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbons
  • 184 mega becquerels of Radium.