On 12 February this year, we posted Water level at borehole PZ2017/03 rises to GROUND LEVEL.
By 18 February, the situation was even worse:
Last week – more than two months on, and now with monitoring equipment finally installed – the top of the piezometer was still underwater:
The sand and gravel that Aggregate Industries wants at Straitgate Farm starts on average 2.3m below ground level. The company’s permission only allows quarrying above the maximum water table.
Clearly this is one area where extraction should not be taking place.
So, how close to this area could extraction be permitted? Aggregate Industries is in no position to say. As we previously posted:
Piezometer PZ2017/03, at the NE corner of Phase 1 and SE corner of Phase 2, is obviously unable to provide any meaningful information on how far to the west of this point the maximum groundwater levels would allow sufficient depth for mineral extraction, given water levels here have reached ground level.Clearly, therefore, there need to be further boreholes drilled at the redrawn eastern boundary of the extraction area – to fulfil Condition 30, ie. so that there are piezometers at "each corner of each working sub-phase".
