Families in fear of 'toxic' site

FAMILIES living near a planned 2,500-home development on the site of a former munitions factory fear their village will be "the next Corby".

Residents are worried the land in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, is so contaminated their health could be put at risk by BAE System's plans.

The defence company has outline planning permission for 2,500 homes on the land, where a Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) operated during both world wars.

Local residents told The Scotsman they fear they could be at a similar risk to people in Corby, where children suffered birth defects after their mothers were exposed to contamination on a former steelworks.

Last week, families in the Northamptonshire town won a landmark ruling against their local council, which paves the way for them to claim compensation for the birth defects.

Yesterday, Janette Waller, the co-founder of the Bishopton Action Group, said: "We are scared that Bishopton could be the next Corby. We are extremely concerned about the excavation and transportation of the toxic substances in the land.

"It is safe just now. It's only when they start digging up the land and moving it that the population could become at risk."

Dr Dick van Steenis, an expert on the impact of airborne pollution on health, warned in a statement about the proposals of the potential health threats to people in Bishopton.

He said the site contained lead, nickel, chromium, manganese, fluoride, arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and asbestos, which could lead to problems ranging from birth defects to brain damage, asthma, heart attacks, cancer and depression.

Sandy Smith, a chemist who worked at the munitions factory in the 1970s, said records were not kept of everything that happened there during the wars, meaning that it could not be known for sure what was buried under the land.

"I know there are nasty things there. It's a question of whether they can find them and treat them and identify them all," he said. "A lot of the residents living locally are very much of the view that the ground would be better left undisturbed."

Thousands of people objected to the plans, granted outline permission in December. The ordinance factory on the 2,500-acre site started production in 1916 and closed in 2002. A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: "At every stage of the planning process the need for safe remediation of the site before any development may be approved has been given the highest priority.

"The independent Examination in Public, which was established by Scottish ministers, reported in 2007 that 'there is no contamination of the ROF site that raises issues of sufficient concern to preclude identifying Bishopton as a community growth area'."

He added that outline planning permission was granted subject to "many stringent environmental and land remediation conditions we have insisted on" being met.

Graham Vincent, a business manager at BAE Systems, said: "All work will be conducted to the highest industry standards, with the consultation and approval of relevant authorities, including the Health and Safety Executive, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage.

"The reclamation of this site will enable the development of new housing, employment and recreational spaces, while providing much-needed regeneration for the local community, including quality and affordable housing, new healthcare and jobs for local people."