‘High-risk sites’: where are the UK’s ‘forever chemical’ hotspots? | PFAS

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), better known as “forever chemicals”, are a family of more than 10,000 synthetic chemicals widely used in consumer products and industrial processes. They are persistent and do not naturally break down in the environment. Some are toxic, accumulate in living organisms and have been linked to various diseases, including cancers, immune deficiency, hormone disruption and developmental problems.

A report for the Environment Agency identified more than 10,000 “high-risk sites” contaminated with PFAS. Active investigations, legal actions, and calls for comprehensive remediation highlight the urgency to address these persistent chemicals.

Here are some of the main pollution hotspots.

• Issue: PFAS from firefighting foams has polluted groundwater.

• Action: Angus Fire may face legal action brought by the Environment Agency and residents of Bentham for the highest PFAS levels detected in groundwater to date in the UK.

• Response: Angus Fire has offered to buy adjacent homes and says they have ceased manufacturing, testing, or selling foam products with PFAS and have been working with the Environment Agency to address contamination.

• Issue: Contamination with the cancer-linked chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), found on land and in water surrounding AGC Chemicals Europe’s PFAS manufacturing plant in Thornton-Cleveleys, as well as in discharge from the site into the protected River Wyre.

• Action: A preliminary report from a multi-agency investigation has found PFOA levels exceed safe limits for private vegetable consumption. The scope of the investigation has been increased, but the Environment Agency is not looking for a PFAS called EEA-NH4, which the agency says is toxic, persistent, and is known to be released in large volumes at the site.

• Response: AGC phased out PFOA in 2012 but denies current contamination risks. It says PFOA in effluent is from a legacy source and says emissions monitoring is ongoing to ensure there is no risk to environment or health.

• Issue: Cambridge Water supplied more than 1,000 south Cambridgeshire homes from an aquifer containing high levels of PFAS, likely to have been polluted by firefighting foams used at the former RAF base at Duxford, now owned by the Imperial War Museum.

• Action: The Drinking Water Inspectorate found the contaminated water in Cambridgeshire was exacerbated by “incorrect assumptions, errors, delays, and incorrect information” from Cambridge Water, undermining confidence in the supplier.

• Response: Cambridge Water says the contaminants did not reach customers because it had blended the water with another source, and has apologised.

• Issue: Firefighting foam is a major source of PFAS, and the groundwater at the fire training college in Moreton-in-Marsh contains high levels, as do rivers near the site. A report of the area surrounding the college revealed perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) levels exceeding environmental quality standards.

• Action: The college is on the Environment Agency’s list of problem sites.

• Response: The college did not respond to requests for comment.

• Issue: Reports commissioned by the Ministry of Defence show high levels of PFOS and PFOA in the groundwater and surface waters at RAF Benson, RAF Coningsby, and RAF Waddington. Separately, drinking water source sampling shows PFAS contamination at locations close to RAF bases Marham and Mildenhall, which could be linked.

• Response: The Ministry of Defence says: “ensuring the safety of our staff, personnel and the public is our number one priority and that’s why we are complying with the relevant legislation and regulations. As understanding of these chemicals has changed, we have responded accordingly. We have prioritised a programme of investigation of our sites, which has been agreed with the Environment Agency.”

6. Heathrow airport, Middlesex

• Issue: High levels of PFOS and PFOA have been detected in shallow groundwater on the site from historic legal uses of substances containing PFOS, including firefighting foams. The adjacent River Crane and Yeading Brook habe both failed their chemical status for PFOS. Levels in the rivers are higher downstream of the airport, but it is also found upstream, indicating other contamination sources.

• Action: The airport says it has been monitoring PFOS at the airport since 2011. They stopped using firefighting foams containing PFOS in 2011 and stopped using foams containing PFAS in 2012.

• Response: Heathrow airport says it has invested more than £30m in water pollution control systems.

7. Sewage treatment plants, nationwide

• Issue: Wastewater treatment plants can be significant sources of PFAS pollution in treated and untreated waste. It can come from domestic or industrial waste and some PFAS can even be created during wastewater treatment processes when other substances are broken down.

• Action: A chemical investigation programme is underway to try to ascertain which treatment works are a source of PFAS and other chemicals of concern, and why they are a source of pollution.

• Response: The UK water industry has called for a ban on PFAS and has called for polluters to pay for pollution mitigation. Treatment plants need upgrades to handle complex chemicals, which would cost billions of pounds.

8. Stowey quarry landfill, Somerset

• Issue: The Environment Agency has highlighted Stowey Quarry, near the Chew Valley reservoir, as a potential PFAS hotspot. About 100,000 tonnes of waste, including hazardous materials, was illegally dumped in 2016. It was considered one of the most serious environmental crimes in the UK over the past 30 years.

• Action: Mark Foley, who operated an illegal landfill, was jailed for more than two years.

• Response: The local authority did not respond to a request for comment.

Waste management facilities, including historic and permitted landfills, can generally be sources of PFAS pollution, as can airports, fire stations, military sites, chemical manufacturers, energy and industrial facilities. Other sources include wastewater treatment sites, agricultural sites where sewage sludge is used, metals, pulp and paper mills, leather and textiles manufacturers.

According to new research, the cost to decontaminate UK sites that are already polluted could reach an estimated £428m annually for the next 20 years. If emissions remain unrestricted and uncontrolled, the cost of cleanup is estimated to reach £9.9bn a year.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “The global science on PFAS is evolving rapidly and we are undertaking a multi-year programme to better understand sources of PFAS pollution in England. We regularly test for 47 different PFAS in our water monitoring and are continually improving our capability to analyse a wider range of PFAS.

“We have developed a risk-screening approach to identify potential sources of PFAS pollution in England. This process will help prioritise the sites for further investigation. We are working closely with several partners, including local authorities, to improve our evidence base and to assess and manage any environmental risks from contaminated land.”