Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his department has made of the potential changes to the level of risk of lead contamination from flooding events due to climate change in areas downstream of historical lead mines.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Environment Agency (EA) monitoring indicates that climate change could potentially increase the mass (kg/day) of metals washed into rivers from historic metal mines. Erosion of spoil heaps during storm events can increase the mobilisation of metals into rivers and re-suspend metal-rich sediments previously deposited in river channels.
For example, on average 127 tonnes of zinc and 40 tonnes of lead enters the Tyne estuary annually (all from abandoned metal mines); however, 50% of this zinc and 80% of this lead flows into the estuary during the highest 5% of river flows. However, while the mass of metals washed into rivers increases in storm events, the severity of water pollution (metal concentrations in mg/l) may decrease due to dilution.
In flood events these metals can be washed onto floodplains, causing land contamination. Climate change is expected to increase the risk of floodplains downstream from historic mining sites being contaminated by flooding.
Through the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme - a partnership between Defra, the EA and the Coal Authority – the Government is taking action to develop mine water treatment schemes and diffuse interventions to prevent metals from abandoned metal mines, including lead, from entering local river systems.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to update its policy guidance on metal mine pollution to reflect the primary risk from sediment contamination in river channels and floodplains.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no specific policy guidance on metal mine pollution. The Environment Agency (EA) considers the primary risk from abandoned metal mines to be pollution of rivers and estuaries, with around 1,500km of rivers polluted by metals. The government has a long-term statutory target to halve the length of rivers polluted by six target substances from abandoned metal mines by 31 December 2038. The six target substances which pose the greatest threat to, or via the aquatic environment are cadmium, lead, nickel, zinc, copper, and arsenic.
Through the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme - a partnership between Defra, the EA and the Coal Authority - government is taking action to develop mine water treatment schemes and diffuse interventions to prevent metals from abandoned metal mines and metal mine waste heaps from entering local river systems.
Where contamination from abandoned metal mines impacts land rather than water then this is covered by the Government’s policy on land contamination including the Land Contamination Risk Management Framework which sets out the approach on how to assess and manage risks from land contamination and the statutory contaminated land regime (Part 2A of the Environment Act 1990, supporting Regulations and Statutory Guidance).
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding he has allocated for the remediation of contaminated land surrounding abandoned lead mines in the the next five years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Funding to support local authorities in fulfilling their statutory obligations under part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to inspect potential contaminated sites and to seek remediation where required, remains in the form of the Revenue Support Grant.
The Revenue Support Grant is an unringfenced block grant covering many services. It is up to local authorities to decide how much funding is allocated to any service based on local priorities and they are held to account locally.
Through the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme - a partnership between Defra, the Environment Agency and the Coal Authority - government is taking action to develop mine water treatment schemes and diffuse interventions to prevent metals from abandoned metal mines, including lead, entering local river systems. Pollution from abandoned metal mines can contaminate land, such as when spoil heaps contaminated by these mines wash into rivers following heavy rainfall, prior to wash onto agricultural floodplains following flooding events. Many diffuse interventions include natural flood management measures to slow the flow of rivers, along with planting of trees and other vegetation which sequester carbon dioxide in soils.
Local Authorities have the duty to inspect their Areas to identify contaminated land, including land contaminated by lead. If a Local Authority had concerns about land contamination, then they have relevant duties and powers under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to investigate and require the responsible person(s) to carry out remediation if they identify any contaminated land.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance he provides to local authorities for testing land in proximity to former lead mining sites; and whether he is taking steps to inform (a) residents and (b) those involved in domestic food production of potential risk in affected areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are a variety of resources available to local authorities in regard to testing potentially contaminated land.
The Interdepartmental Committee on the Redevelopment of Contaminated Land (ICRCL) issued guidance on The Restoration and Aftercare of Metalliferous Mining Sites for Pasture and Grazing in 1990 (ICRCL 70/90). Although outdated, parts are still relevant due to the focus on the risks to plants and livestock grazing. The Environment Agency have since taken on the role of issuing technical guidance.
The current overarching guidance on managing risks for land contamination is found in Land Contamination Risk Management (LRCM). This sets out the 3-stage approach for managing all risks from land contamination including the first stage of risk assessment.
This work is supplemented by additional guidance such as the Sewage sludge in agriculture: code of practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) which deals with risks to crops, livestock, and consumers from trace elements in soil. Other guidance such as the Environment Agency’s Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment (CLEA) Software Model, and C4SL project issued by CL:AIRE provide detailed guidance in other areas, and the Food Standards Agency also play an important role in terms of the potential introduction of contaminants into the food chain.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not have a specific statutory role in relation to contaminated land but plays an advisory role in the overall health risk assessment process. UKHSA may be asked for support by local authorities in providing public health advice to their communities.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of recent flooding on areas with historical levels of lead contamination.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The impact of flooding on areas of land with historical levels of lead contamination is a matter for local councils to consider under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Local councils have the duty to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land including land contaminated by lead. In the context of flooding, this would cover situations where lead is washed from rivers or sediments onto floodplains or existing lead contamination on land is impacted by flooding.
The Environment Agency (EA) does have a role in tackling water pollution, including pollution from metals. Discharges from abandoned metal mines are one the main sources of metals in our rivers, polluting around 1,500kms (around 3% of English Rivers). In 2023, a target was set to reduce the length of rivers polluted by metals from abandoned metal mines by half by 2038. Lead is one of the 6 target metals. The EA are working with the Coal Authority under Defra’s Water and Abandoned Metal Mines (WAMM) Programme to identify and tackle the priority discharges.
So far 140 tonnes of target metals have been prevented from entering rivers through diffuse interventions and treatment schemes, but a 10-fold increase will be required in the WAMM Programme to meet the statutory target by 2038.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of food samples tested for lead contamination per year by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The levels of lead testing in the United Kingdom are determined in accordance with legislative requirements which provide food safety assurances to both domestic consumers as well as export markets. Sampling levels are reviewed by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) each year to ensure that they are proportionate to livestock production; of note, the VMD has effectively tripled annual lead testing for sheep and bovine animals from 2024 to provide further guarantees on safety of these foodstuffs. The results of said testing are published by VMD on a quarterly basis and can be found on the VMD’s GOV.UK webpage here.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Food Standards Agency and (b) Committee on Toxicity on the potential risks of lead contamination in the UK food chain.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials and Ministers have regular meetings with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) where a range of issues are discussed and I last met with Professor Susan Jebb on 5 September. Ministers have had no specific discussions on this with the Committee on Toxicity or the FSA.