Politicians Briefed on Former Cornish Chemical Warfare site Clean-up Operation

Ms Julia Goldsworthy, MP for Falmouth and Camborne, was joined by Councillor Pat Aston of Kerrier District Council's Single Issue Panel at the briefing. They also visited the five dumpsites containing the remnants of the Cold War chemical establishment's buildings.

Martin Wyler and Pauline Johnson from the Environment Agency - responsible for overseeing the voluntary MOD remediation project - also attended the briefing, which was jointly hosted by Mr Garth Weaver, the MOD’s Project Manager and Dr Steve Hobbs from ENVIROS Consulting. Enviros has provided the MOD with specialist advice in what was described as 'a unique project'.

Garth Weaver covered the historical reasons why Nancekuke was first constructed and Dr Steve Hobbs gave a very highly-detailed account of the work already undertaken and currently underway. He gave a description of the investigative work planned to take place from now through to Spring 2008. The data this yields will provide the Environment Agency, which regulates the work, with further site data to enable the remaining dumpsites to be remediated.

Of key interest were the results of extensive ground investigations at the dumpsite and water borehole and run-off tests. None of these had shown any signs of chemical warfare agents. All testing has been carried out by two separate laboratories. The MOD’s tests have been conducted at Porton Down, whilst identical samples taken from the same location and at the same times have been independently tested by a commercial laboratory.

Councillor Pat Aston and Julia Goldsworthy were taken on a tour of the dumpsites so they could witness how the plans have been put into action and the manner in which further investigative work will finally assist in removing the legacy of CDE Nancekuke. Speaking at the end of the briefing, Councillor Pat Aston said: "The remediation is going well with great emphasis on safety during this dangerous work. Local mining experts have been involved as the underground work is begun."

Speaking after her briefing, MP Ms Goldsworthy said, "After an informative morning at RAF Portreath, it was excellent to see the remediation work at the site continuing according to plan. There is still much to be done before all aspects of the work are completed, but there has been significant progress since my visit last year."

"The Ministry of Defence has been very open, with myself and the public, about the results of their investigations, and with regard to the action they feel is necessary to fully remediate the affected sites. Working closely with Kerrier District Council, I am confident that local residents will remain well informed, ensuring that any culture of secrecy which may have existed in previous decades is replaced with a relationship based on trust and openness."

A public meeting with local stakeholders is planned for 20 November 2007. This will provide members of the public with the same information provided to local politicians and will allow all interested parties to receive a face-to-face briefing on the remediation programme's progress.