The Environment Agency has responded to Aggregate Industries' latest plans and reports, and now seeks further answers from the company on a range of issues.
One matter that has been clarified by the EA is their newly delineated SPZ - groundwater source protection zone - that stretches well into the area AI wants to quarry. AI had complained that this had been wrongly calculated. The EA robustly refutes this and says:
[AI's] Hydrogeological Baseline Report states that the Cadhay Source SPZ 2 was delineated based on the assumption of a 1m thick saturated aquifer. However, just for information, the SPZ was delineated using a velocity calculation and the topographic contours, which means that saturated thickness did not actually come into any calculations.Touché!
