Holly
Smith - 2-Nov-2006 - The Environment Agency is
appealing for witnesses or information concerning
chemical drums and asbestos dumped on land near
Awsworth and Ilkeston. We believe the drums may
have been left sometime around lunchtime on Thursday
26 October 2006.
The contents of the 140 small
chemical drums include substances we believe to
be solvent based. They were tipped on land on
the slip road off the A610 towards Newthorpe Sewage
Treatment Works. The deposit also consisted of
a considerable amount of asbestos-type sheeting
and broken material as well as numerous paint
cans.
Many of the drums were in poor
condition and leaking, only metres away from the
Giltbrook watercourse. The site is used as a public
footpath and a number of horses are stabled nearby.
A clean up had to be carried out over the weekend
by suitably trained personnel and at a cost of
many thousands of pounds.
Environmental Crime Team Leader,
Peter Rutherford says: "This is a very serious
incident which could have had disastrous consequences
if it had reached the watercourse, or if a child
or animal had found it. We are appealing for people
to come forward if they have any information that
might help us find the people who did this.
"They may know where these
drums have come from, or have seen a vehicle entering
or leaving the slip road to the sewage works at
some time on the Thursday. It would possibly have
been seen leaking contents or have a definite
odour of solvents. People may have seen the vehicle
on the A610 or pedestrians may have seen it near
the sewage works.
"If they have any
information at all, they should contact us on
the Environment Agency’s free 24 hour Hotline
- 0800 807060."
