CWMAMAN FLOOD RELIEF OR JUST ANOTHER EXCUSE FOR DUMPING HUNDREDS OF TONS OF WASTE?
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is developing a flood relief system at the Glynhafod Reservoir well that’s the official line from the council.
Long standing residents of Cwmaman and Glynhafod will remember the flood of 1986 that caused devastation to the area, after the flood a great amount of flood relief work was carried out on the River Aman and I don’t believe there has been a problem with flooding in this area since.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council decided to build a new school serving Cwmaman and Glynhafod and decided I believe to replace only part of the enclosed culvert that was installed after the flood of 1986, why not replace the enter length if the culvert had degenerated that badly?
Construction work delivers tones of waste and it is expensive to move and cost to dump in certified landfill sites.
So where is the waste from the new Cwmaman School going? Initially Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said all waste would be removed from site to landfill and not dumped in the locality as they had done previously from the new Aberdare School when the council dumped 1,460 tonnes illegally at the Cwmaman beauty spot. Because the waste was dumped illegally, RCTC Ratepayers had to foot the bill to have the waste removed, therefor ratepayers paying twice with no apology from RCTC for wasting thousands of pounds of council taxpayers money.
A quote today 24 July 2017 from Andrew Morgan Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council he said,
This will significantly reduce disruption for local people, as they were faced with thousands of tonnes of material being transported through the narrow streets of Cwmaman by large vehicles.
The above a quote with regard waste from the new School to Cwmaman, but what about the disruption through the narrow streets of Cwmaman when thousands of tons of waste from the new Aberdare School that was illegally dumped in Glynhafod councillor Morgan? No one in the council cared about that not even local labour councillours.
So RCT Council are now dumping more waste in Glynhafod under the guise of a flood relief system? Some local resident say is not required, but it’s a good way to get rid of hundreds of tons of waste from the new school.
So potentially what’s in the waste that is being transported? Below taken from Page 19 of the Preliminary Geo-Environmental and Geotechnical Report for the new Cwmaman School site.
2.8.1 Potential Contamination Sources
As the site has historically been used as rail land and colliery associated buildings, a range of contaminants relating to this use may be present such as a range of metals, and hydrocarbons.
With reference to CLR8, the land use of Railway Land is considered to be relevant for which the following contaminants could potentially be present:
Railway Land:
· Cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, vanadium, sulphate, asbestos, PAHs, chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons and PCBs.
Tanks and Pipeline:
· Chromium, Copper, Mercury, Cyanide, Sulphide, Asbestos Phenol, Acetone, Oil/Fuel Hydrocarbons, Aromatic Hydrocarbons, PCB’s.”
The report also says, Therefore potential for exposure from any possible contamination, remains in grassed and landscaped areas.
So by spreading the waste supposedly as a flood relief system, are you not spreading the potential contamination too?
There is only one mention of contamination within the Flood Risk Management Plan volume 1 on page 23
“This type of flooding also provides a source of hydrocarbon contamination and is more of a problem when an intense rainfall follows a period of dry weather.”
It would appear the labour run council can do what ever it wants, will Natural Resources Wales get involved as the report clearly says the land is a “potential for exposure from any possible contamination”? Natural Resources Wales has been having a bad press recently at the moment they are looking for a new Chief Executive we understand a local resident has emailed the local NRW team leader. Will NRW look into this only time will tell.
Photographs of the flood 1986 by H. Davies
http://www.ourwales.org.uk/index.php?option=com_joomcaw&controller=group&lang=en-GB
