In message , spamlet
writes
Hi Andrew(s),
Interesting to come across this update on the Wheathamsted Sainsburys
application - for which I too attended one of the store's public meeting
attempts to convince the villagers that they desperately needed a
superstore.

Murphy's was, I think, a pretty exceptionally contaminated site though: I
recall a meeting with an NRA officer, where he was of the opinion that just
a bucket of 'soil' from the site getting into the River Lea nearby, could
wipe out life for miles down stream!

Umm... As the owner of the adjoining farmland I have an interest:-)

The NRA may well have known more than they said. When the local domestic
waste site (Blackbridge tip) was closed around 1965, Murphies created an
earth bunded liquid waste tip at the end of their site. I have no idea
what wastes were disposed there and this part of the site was not
decontaminated prior to being developed for housing. All surface water
is collected and fed via an enormous concrete duct to the reed beds and
thence to the river Lea.

Currently test bore holes are being installed around the old Berk
chemical works at Sandridge following the contamination of the Three
Valleys Water borehole at Hatfield.

With regard to Andrew's enquiry, I thought that the *polluter pays*
legislation fixed the responsibility with the current owner at the time
of the enactment and that you can't escape responsibility by selling?

regards
--
Tim Lamb