Is Thanet’s drinking water safe? The following rather disquieting document was obtained through the freedom of information act.You would have received the documents that where sent regarding the area of the runway and the chemicals/compounds found in the underground aquifer
This application whilst welcome - does not address some of the issues/concerns.
What is not helpful is that this planning application is the wrong way round in that no discharge consent is in place to direct other matters of the application in more detail. For clarity when the discharge application is live then I believe a four month public consultation applies? You could say that we have a cart before the horse arrangement with this application. Click here to read on
michael,
ReplyDeleteThough I'm familiar with the information and the concerns raised, I'm not clear from your piece what the source of the document is.
As you know I called the planning application for the interceptor at Manston into TDC's Planning Committee precisely because I wanted those concerns addressed. We were told by planning officers that it wasnt appropriate for TDC to consider the broader environmental concerns at that point, but that that would be done by the EA as part of the approval of discharge consent. I disagree, I think there is a duty of care involved especial as discharge is across TDC land. However I am just one opinion.
I continue to press the EA to pursue the lack of discharge consent from the airport which has been absent since it ceased to be a military airport.
David unless my science is mistaken what it seems to be saying is that TDC knew our drinking water was contaminated with a chemical that causes cancer but didn’t tell us not to drink it.
ReplyDeleteSo at the moment while I get a more expert opinion on this I think it best not to involve names and sources.
How was possibly polluted run-off dealt with before it became a civilian air-port? My experience is that the military in the past have been a bit lax in this sort of thing. If it had run-off traps and ability to discharge, how can civilian use alter the situation unless the system is faulty. It is hardly a change of use and a new set of problems? Is not the proposed China Gateway and Cummins slap bang in the middle of our water catchment area with similar problems to cope with?
ReplyDeleteNot to mention the amount of water Thanet Earth will be sucking from our aquifers.
ReplyDeleteOn the RAF point, Bertie, my understanding from having seen these and other related documents is that military establishments are/were exempt from any of these environmental obligations, and that successive owners of the airport have taken advantage of this and dragged out any plans to bring things up to date.
Yep not enough water pressure to put out Ramsgate library, lack of water pressure a major factor in the Dreamland fire, and we keep going ahead with developments that need more water.
ReplyDeleteBut still the big question is it safe to drink.
Steve Ladyman by email
ReplyDeleteThis needs to be sorted out and sorted out soon. I have, as have colleagues like Dave Green, been pressing the EA to ensure it is addressed urgently. It would appear that until the airport was civilianised they never needed to act on this and the previous owners when it was first sold did not bother as far as I can see. The current owners do seem to be addressing the issue and progress appears now to be being made but the sooner we see a definitive resolution the better.