§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Whitty on 31 January (WA 4), whether the Environment Agency has completed its investigations into pesticides incidents at Mersley Farm, Isle of Wight; if it has, whether it has decided to prosecute; and, if not, how much longer it anticipates the investigations will take. [HL1809]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)The Environment Agency has carried out investigations at and around Mersley Farm and has removed pesticides which it considers to pose a pollution threat. So far the agency has found no evidence that pollution has occurred or that there is a basis for prosecution. As a precautionary measure the agency plans to install boreholes to monitor a nearby groundwater supply. The agency expects this work to begin in April and the results to be availble after 12 months.