from Sunday Herald, 13 October 2013
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will come under fierce fire
this week for failing to accept the responsibility for cleaning up radioactive
contamination at Dalgety Bay in Fife.
The 50-strong nuclear-free group of local authorities (NFLA) is going to issue a report on the pollution that will strongly criticise the MoD’s repeated attempts to wriggle out of paying for a clean-up.
The MoD has been resisting increasing pressure from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) to accept liability for the contamination. More than 2,500 radioactive hotspots have been found on the foreshore in the last 23 years, causing areas to be closed to the public and the harvesting of shellfish to be banned.
The problem was first discovered at Dalgety Bay, a popular sailing resort, in 1990. It is blamed on radium used to illuminate the dials of aircraft disposed of in the area after the Second World War.
“The radioactive contamination at Dalgety Bay is a clear example of how dangerous it is to leave low level radiation sources on former military sites,” said NFLA’s Scotland convenor, Glasgow Labour councillor, Bill Butler.
“It is outrageous that the MoD has not dealt with this incident many years ago, and that it is still continuing to challenge the expert findings of Sepa. We call on the MoD to fully fund remediation efforts to improve the environment around Dalgety Bay and to undertake such work as a matter of urgency.”
NFLA’s report, written by Edinburgh nuclear consultant, Pete Roche, urges Sepa to carry out its threat to officially designate the bay as radioactively contaminated land. This would be the first such designation in the UK, and would give Sepa powers to force the MoD to act.
The report echoes demands made by the local MP and former Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and a former MoD radiation protection official, Fred Dawson. “The MoD is quite aware of the reputational damage the Dalgety Bay contamination issue has and continues to cause,” said Dawson.
Sepa had shown “extreme patience” with the MoD, he argued. “I believe the time has now come for Sepa to take legal action against the MoD to resolve the issue without further delay.”
The NFLA report also suggests that there may be many other places contaminated with radioactivity around the UK. Some 15 military sites have previously been named by the MoD, and experts say there could be scores more.
The MoD insisted that it was committed to supporting the local community by carrying out regular monitoring. “We have recently completed a draft report into possible management options and expect to meet Sepa officials very shortly to discuss these and identify the next steps,” said an MoD spokeswoman.
She accepted that the MoD had disagreed with some of Sepa’s findings. “We continue to work closely with Sepa to resolve these matters and are keen to do so in a timely fashion, recognising the uncertainty caused to local residents by the current situation.”
Sepa said it was looking forward to seeing NFLA’s report. “Our aim is to reach a conclusion that will benefit all parties, particularly the local community, and we are discussing options with the MoD in order to agree a robust, long-term management strategy for addressing the contamination,” added a Sepa spokesman.
Earlier stories on the Dalgety Bay contamination can be accessed here.
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