Toxic waste could be left under homes

Residents fighting a proposed housing development on toxic land say plans to bur y the contaminated material under gardens and driveway son the new estate are storing up problems for the future.

Families living near the 100- year-old former waste dump in Livingston were told they would have to stay indoor sand keep windows closed as a precaution while lorryloads of toxic material was taken away.

But now they say they have been told housebuilders Cruden plan to retain most of the contaminated soil on the site, beneath certain parts of the development with a protective membrane placed on top.

Mother-of-two Gillian de Felice said: “We were led to believe they were going to remove all the soil com - pletely and we were obviously concerned about that because there were going to be about 500 lorry loads up and down our streets.

“Now the option they’re going with – surprise, surprise the cheap est one – is they’ll only remove a small percentage of it and the rest is going to be the foundations for roads, driveways, lay-bys and gardens.”

Crud en wants to build 18 homes on the land at Tarbert Drive , Murieston, which in 1907-12 was used as a dump for the ash created by the incineration of Edinburgh’s domestic waste.

Following an appeal, a planning rep or ter has said he is minded to allow the development.