Toxic waste fears over airborne dust cloud

CLOUDS of industrial waste which have smothered communities in rural Scotland could be contaminated with toxic chemical elements, a damning environmental report has revealed.

For weeks, clouds of airborne coal ash from Longannet power station have been lying over Fife towns and villages.

The byproduct has for decades been disposed of by ScottishPower at Valleyfield in the west of the county, where it is dumped into specially designed lagoons.

But water levels at the lagoons have dropped because of the recent dry spell, drying out the dust, before winds have kicked it up into clouds.

Residents in Valleyfield, Culross, Newmills and Torryburn have complained about the clouds. NHS bosses have warned locals to stay inside with their windows closed when the clouds are present.

A Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) report revealed the lagoons are polluted with arsenic, cadmium and chromium.

The report has come as SEPA has hit ScottishPower with two legal enforcement notices for being in breach of their site conditions, which require it to keep the ash suppressed.

SEPA’s Iain Cruickshank said: ‘While ash from within the lagoon is known to contain low levels of naturally occurring elements such as chromium and cadmium, these meet the environmental standards set out within the site’s permit.

‘Our recent monitoring data has also been provided to the relevant health authorities for their assessment on the potential public health impacts.’

A ScottishPower spokesman said: ‘The situation is under control and we will work tirelessly to prevent issues occurring again in the future.’