§ Viscount Astorasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether British Gas has decontaminated the site of the Millennium Dome and its surroundings for both commercial and residential use. [HL4647]
§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)Remediation of the dome site and its surroundings was carried out in stages. British Gas, the original landowner, carried out the statutory remediation, removing all substances which could be a danger or harmful to health. The second phase was carried out by English Partnerships, the Government's regeneration agency, to make the site fit for known planned developments.
Both British Gas and English Partnerships employed WS Atkins as their remediation consultants, which secured the agreement of the Environment Agency and the Environmental Health Department of the London Borough of Greenwich to the remediation solutions which were carried out on site.
The whole of the 300-acre Greenwich peninsula site now owned by English Partnerships has been remediated fit for its purpose. Any further remediation will depend upon the final use to which the land is to be put and will relate to the form of construction used.