Contamination found at site of former mine
FURTHER studies are needed on 16 homes built on the site of an old copper mine after elevated levels of heavy metals were found in soil samples.
More than 100 properties on the Craig-y-Don Estate, Amlwch, were tested for possible contamination on a site used for smelting more than 200 years ago.
All but one of the 112 homes which could have been affected allowed garden soil tests to be carried out, with no contamination found in 95, but further assessments will be needed on the remaining 16.
Of these, seven are understood to be council-owned social housing, with nine in private hands.
A report on the findings will be discussed by Anglesey council’s executive in May, but Amlwch Town Council is urging the authority to pay for any remedial works, even if the homes are now privately owned.
Cllr Myrddin Owens told a town council meeting: “We need to put pressure on Anglesey Council to ensure they pay to repair the damage. They have a moral obligation to sort out the problem, which is of no fault of the people living there now.”
Members were told the extent of contamination is relatively minor, and residents would require substantial exposure to the soil to be adversely affected.
County councillor Richard Owain Jones said: “Although it obviously needs sorting, experts have informed us that the soil would need to be ingested every day over a period of 60 years in order to have any effect.
“It’s important that people know there’s no immediate danger here.That said, I do agree with the principle that the cost should not fall on the homeowners, who have been unaware of this issue until now.”
Amlwch Town Council chairman Cllr Gareth Winston Roberts said: “We should push Anglesey council to fulfil their duties to these residents, that’s the principle we’re talking about here.
“Hopefully the council will be successful in applying for grants so the cost doesn’t fall on the authority, but it needs to be paid for somehow.”
According to Anglesey council, the remedial work could include the removal and replacement of garden top soil or paving over gardens.Council leader Cllr Llinos Medi has confirmed that a grant application for funding towards the costs of this work has already been submitted.
“I want to reassure residents that they are not in at any immediate risk,” she said. “The county council will do everything it can to ensure appropriate support and guidance for all owners and tenants of the 16 properties involved until this matter is resolved. To this end I have written to the Welsh Government requesting additional support to carry out the remedial work now needed.”
Craig-y-Don was built in the 1950s on the site of a smelter dating to 1786 linked to the town’s booming copper industry.
When copper mining ceased the site became a fertilizer factory known as Gwaith Hills in 1889. The smelting process at Craig-yDon involved furnaces which melted the ore to extract the copper, leaving behind the less valuable heavy materials in the form of “clinker”.
The survey by the council found ground on certain parts of the estate included traces of this clinker.