| A spokesman for the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency said, once the site has closed, any proposed future use, e.g. housing, will have to be considered by the local planning authority to confirm whether or not it must be included in their contaminated land inspection strategy.
SEPA said, “They’ll want to ensure any existing contamination will not cause harm to human health or the environment. If it did, then the council might impose restrictions on future land use.
“They’ll want to ensure any contamination will not cause harm to health or the environment.”
Glaxo began in Montrose in 1952 and, as per industry practices at the time, they made use of chemical “settlement pits”. The use of these pits would have taken place under a licence.
In 1991, about the time the Environmental Protection Act took hold, the use of the pits ceased. The site then became regulated under the Integrated Pollution Control regime and there are presently six different IPC authorisations covering the site’s activities.
SEPA have confirmed the indications are that the plant will close at the end of 2006. Along with all other pharmaceutical manufacturers, GSK will need to apply for a Pollution Prevention and Control permit by March 31, 2006, if they wish to operate after this date. As part of their PPC application, GSK must include a Site Report that provides a baseline of the environmental state of the installation.
If it is judged that the installation has been adversely affected by operations that took place under PPC, the resulting contamination will have to be returned to the state it was at when GSK received their PPC permit.
SEPA said, “Although we regulate the site, the pits were used prior to SEPA’s existence and are not regulated within their current or future consents from us. It will be down to the local authority to assess impact on any proposed future use of the site.” |
