Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to paragraph 13 of the report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Development Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the the excavations of quayside at South Bank Quay Phase One on levels of contamination in the River Tees in the period between 18 August 2021 and 16 December 2021.

The work referenced in the report by the Chief Executive of the South Tees Devel-opment Corporation, published on 16 December 2021, relates to the redevelopment of South Bank Quay. This work was set out and approved as part of a local authority planning permission, which would have specifically detailed the site remediation plans within a remediation strategy. The Environment Agency did not input into this planning process. Under the Planning Regime, it is the responsibility of the Local Planning Au-thority to ensure that issues such as land contamination and risks to controlled waters are addressed appropriately by the developer. This includes ensuring that remediation activities if required are undertaken by the developer and that there are no remaining unacceptable risks posed to the environment as part of the proposed development.