Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 6 Tachwedd 1991.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will ensure that an environmental study is carried out in the area around Bolsover Coalite; and if he will make a statement.
Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has investigated emissions from the chemical incinerator at the Coalite works. Extensive studies are continuing. HMIP's investigations have shown that dioxins are present in the stack gases from the Coalite incinerator. Concentrations measured in the current emissions would probably account for only a part of the dioxins that have been found in the milk on the affected farms. The company is not in breach of the law in the manner in which it has operated the incinerator. The company is undertaking an urgent review of the incinerator design and will incorporate substantial modifications so as to meet the latest stringent standards. The modified incinerator will be capable of operation with minimal emissions of dioxins. The management has agreed that in order to commence the programme of engineering work, the incinerator will be shut down at the end of November. I shall write to the hon. Member once decisions on further work have been taken.
Now that the Minister has half admitted that there is a direct correlation between Bolsover Coalite, dioxin and the contaminated milk, does he accept that it has taken six months' probing to get someone at the Dispatch Box to contribute even that little bit to the argument? Will he now consult the Secretary of State, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and all the other relevant Departments to ensure that there is a proper environmental assessment and a public inquiry into the link between Coalite and the dioxin-contaminated milk? If there is to be any more waffle about the citizens charter, it is high time that the Government did something about this issue in Bolsover.
The hon. Gentleman is wrong to seek to draw those inferences from the information that I have given. His comments are also less than fair; extensive studies, including environmental studies, have been carried out. Those involve the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which has been carrying out work at the affected farms, the National Rivers Authority, which has measured dioxin levels in fresh-water sediments from the area, and HMIP, which has investigated the emissions from the chemical incinerator at the Coalite works. Many agencies have sought to obtain as much information as possible, but it will be some time before the full results of the investigations at the farms are available. However, results will be published in the normal way, and I assure the hon. Gentleman that they will be made public.