A proposal to quarry 8 million tonnes of sand and gravel in Hertfordshire has raised concerns that a bromate plume attributed to a leak from a former chemical works could be disturbed and pollute drinking water supplies. A decision on the quarry proposal was expected to be taken at a planning meeting last month, but was deferred after Environment Agency representatives failed to attend:
Decision on quarry between Hatfield and St Albans stalls due to Environment Agency no-show https://t.co/1Go3SYSBmX— Welwyn Hatfield Times (@whtimes) December 20, 2019
The Environment Agency have said that the proposed operations - and the required planning requirements - would "reduce and effectively manage the risk".
But the county council's development control committee refused to take a decision without further information from the Environment Agency.
Leading calls for the deferment, county councillor Seamus Quilty said the decision was a "balancing act" - and that it was "an absolute disgrace" that the Environment Agency was not present.
He said the EA's references to reducing and managing the risk meant that there was a risk and asked the watchdog to give a professional guarantee that there would be no contamination to the public water supply.
"Not having them here is ridiculous," said Conservative councillor Quilty.
