Watling Street ground sample results delayed

Apr 28 2011 by Leona Greenan, Hamilton Advertiser

RESIDENTS of the Motherwell “toxic timebomb” housing estate have been informed they will need to wait for the results of recent contamination tests.

Householders on the Watling Street estate were expecting to receive the outcome of months of ground and soil sampling tests last week.

However, North Lanarkshire Council sent out letters to the residents informing them that the results had been delayed.

Land tests were carried out by North Lanarkshire Council last August after some residents at the estate claimed toxins in the land were to blame for a long series of illnesses.

The council did uncover traces of five different toxins, the most dangerous of which was TCE.

Further soil probes and groundwater samples were carried out in January, having been delayed in November due to the harsh winter weather.

Andrew McPherson, Environmental Health manager with North Lanarkshire Council, said: “The council is aware that residents were expecting the results of these investigations about now and we are working hard to make that possible.

“However, as we previously explained to residents, our investigations – and therefore our results – have been delayed.

“We fully realise the importance of providing the people who live on the estate with all available information as quickly as possible and it is our intention to do so as soon as the results have been completed and independently verified and when we have consulted with our partners at NHS Lanarkshire and Health Protection Scotland for their input. We expect that to happen in the very near future and by May 13 at the latest.

“It is important to stress that, at the present time, we have no reason to believe there is any immediate risk to health from the open space or from the soil in gardens and to assure residents that, if we become aware of any such risk, we will inform them right away and take action to ensure any such risk is dealt with.”

However, Des Collins, senior partner of Collins Solicitors, who represents a number of the families who live in Watling Street and Forum Place, hit back this week and claimed that the delay in having the results ready was “unacceptable.”

He said: “I have to question why it has taken an extra five months to get to the bottom of this problem. If I was a resident on Watling Street, I would quite rightly be very upset by a further delay - and the feedback I am getting from my clients is just that. The more delays there are, the greater the possibility of people being exposed to toxins that they shouldn’t be. The council needs to get on with it.”