£5,000 bill to remove pig bones from site

PIG bones had to be dug up at a cost of more than £5,000 before construction could start on a Widnes rail technology centre, it has been revealed.

An application to discharge several planning permission conditions has been lodged with Halton Borough Council concerning the site in Halebank previously known as HBC Field.

The site is now home to Alstom’s rail technology centre and training academy.

Attached to the application is an incident management summary from OHES Environmental which said the firm was contacted by Biffa in May 2016, to help remove pig remains from a site which was to be sold near Halebank Road.

It said: “The pig remains were well decomposed as they had been buried since 2007.

“As such, the required works comprised of the need to excavate and disposing of the bones from approximately 10 pigs. Biffa had received the job inquiry from Tarmac Ltd who had in turn been contracted by Halton Borough Council to deal with the issue.”

As the bones were removed, the excavation team used a Defra approved disinfectant to treat the soil.

The bones were put in a skip and were treated with disinfectant before incineration.

The total cost – including labour, plant hire, waste disposal and transport among others – was £5,605, excluding VAT.