§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she will take to address pollution in the River Aire at Skipton. [45793]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Environment Agency received a report of pollution entering the River Aire from a closed landfill site in March 2000. The incident was investigated and was categorised as a minor incident which has a limited effect on water quality. Their enquiries showed the cause of the incident to be a malfunctioning pump carrying leachate from a decommissioned landfill site to the public foul water sower. North Yorkshire County Council is responsible for maintaining the pump and is taking steps to gain access to the land, which is controlled by a tenant farmer, in order to carry out the necessary work.
The River Aire at Skipton is routinely monitored for chemistry and biology at two sampling points——Carleton and Cononley. The most recent results recorded for Carleton are class B (good) for both chemistry and biology.
At Cononley the chemistry has improved from D (poor) to B (good) over the last 10 years. Biology has improved from E (poor) to C (fairly good) in the same period.
Overall, there has been a continuing trend of improving quality to this stretch of the Aire in response to improvements at Snaygill (Skipton) sewage treatment works. Results for 2001 are not yet available.