Welsh Government won’t reveal where ‘higher-risk’ coal tips are
INVESTIGATIONS have found Wales has 327 “higher-risk” coal tips – but the Welsh Government is refusing to say where they are.
Across Wales there are more than 2,000 disused coal tips which pose risks of landslides, pollution and spontaneous combustion and can cause or contribute to flooding.
In February 2020, following Storm Ciara and then Storm Dennis, thousands of tonnes of rock and debris slid down the side of the valley from the Llanwonno tip in Tylorstown. Others slips took place near the council offices in Clydach Vale, on the railway line to Aberdare near Mountain Ash, and in Wattstown. There were others in Clydach and Pontygwaith.
In the aftermath, it became clear there is currently no register for all disused tips in Wales, nor any agency with overall responsibility for them.
The laws brought in to cover coal tips were in the wake of the Aberfan tragedy and were described as “outdated and no longer fit for purpose” and need to be changed to reduce the risk of dangerous incidents.
Since the Tylorstown slip, the Welsh Government has been working with the Coal Authority, councils and Natural Resources Wales to identify all disused coal tips across Wales.
That work has concluded there are 2,456 tips and 327 of those are classified as “higher risk” and checks on those classifications are now ongoing.
The Welsh Government has refused to release the locations of those tips, but instead says it will only tell councils and Local Resilience Forums.
A statement from Welsh Government said: “Further quality assurance work and processes need to be completed before we are able to release this data publicly.
“However, we are sharing the data with local authorities and local resilience forums to support emergency preparedness.”
Any of those which are categorised as the higher potential risk in categories C and D, does not mean an imminent risk, Welsh Government say but the categorisation reflects the frequency of inspection required to monitor the tip’s stability.
Climate change minister Julie James has written to Senedd members saying “the safeguarding of our communities remains a priority and we are taking action to mitigate as many risks as possible”.
Higher risk rips are being inspected to identify any maintenance or urgent works which are needed.
An “interim risk categorisation” is in place to ensure consistency with the approach to categorisation across Wales which recognises there is the potential to cause risk to safety, rather than there being an imminent or immediate threat, with more frequent inspections scheduled on the higherrisk rated tips.
Councils have been tasked with delivery those works and working with owners of those tips which are in private ownership.
As part of checks, a programme of technology trials, sensor equipment and earth observation techniques have been used at over 70 higher-risk coal tip sites across Wales. Further techniques are being considered for implementation on selected sites before the upcoming winter, looking at additional remote sensing and real-time telemetric monitoring systems. Councils have also been given money to buy drones to use as part of their inspection and management regime.
The Welsh Government has said it will introduce legislation in this Senedd term to address long-term safety.
Ms James’ statement read: “Legislation is, however, only one element of our long-term approach to addressing coal tip safety. To ensure the legacy of coal mining does not continue to pose a risk to public safety, a longterm reclamation and remediation programme, over a 10 to 15 year period, is required. While this programme can help to reduce future risks of landslides it also offers an opportunity to transform coal tips into something more productive and beneficial for communities in Wales.
“Investment in coal tips can bring economic benefits, new skills and more employment to our hard pressed Welsh communities. It will improve the environment for people who live there and give back a share of national wealth to those whose predecessors helped create it.”
Welsh Government recently said it wanted UK Government to give money to make coal tips safe saying the tips were created before devolution, so the UK Government should “share responsibility” and the bill, estimated to be at least £500m to £600m over the next 10 to 15 years.
The UK Government said it would not give extra funding.