A serious case of contamination of allotment land came my way this week.
It is so serious that an allotment site in Newport (Gwent) is to close permanently. Remedial works could make the land useable but would cost upto £195,000. The report indicated that growing of fruit trees and vegetables might not be possible, even after remediation.
The causes of contamination of gardens and allotments are various. If there is any reason to suspect pollution it is essential to investigate by:
- a desk study; and,
- an on-site investigation.
Pointers to possible contamination include:
- the physical remains of industrial and other buildings and machinery;
- waste and oil spills from former industrial workings;
- contaminates from the burning of painted timber, tyres and other materials;
- residues from polluted flood waters;
- long-term air-borne contaminates; and,
- spills from off-site events, eg a fire or explosion, which result in pollution "pathways" to the garden or allotment site.
It is possible that a plot-holder may contaminate the patches of ground by such practices as:
- the inadvertent overuse of fertilisers or chemical for pest / weed controls;
- the regular bonfire burning of plastics, painted timber, tyres and other materials containing toxic substances; and,
- burying asbestos sheeting and other potentially harmful materials.
Two reports of asbestos being found on allotments came my way this morning at about 6.45am. The incidents were, briefly recounted:
- asbestos roof sheeting had been buried on an allotment site; and,
- the destruction by fire of an allotment site's community shed/shop revealed asbestos in the roof.
Given the possibility of very serious illness resulting from inhaling asbestos particles one hopes that the buriers, removers, firemen and allotmenteers will not suffer in the distant future.
Statutory documents, eg the Control of Asbestos Regulations apply formally to owners and occupiers of certain buildings but I have not seen any references to asbestos and allotments until this morning.
Obviously the Environment Agency officials and workers involved in the first instance and the fire service firemen and officials in the second instance were aware of the dangers and initiated suitable precautions, eg the firemen had breathing apparatus. hoefull all is well.
The two reports have me pondering on allotments and contamination - I intend to come back to the issues if I find more about the subject!
