FIRE crews were called to Marston Moor Business Park near Tockwith after a lorry delivered potentially dangerous toxic waste.
Fire engines from York, Harrogate and Ripon were sent to the park last Thursday morning after a trailer carrying 26 200-l
itre drums of chemical waste tried to deliver it to waste company BCB Environmental Ltd.
The area was cordoned off and the lorry was moved to a safe area at the edge of the business park where officers checked out the substance.
It was identified as antimony slag which can produce a toxic and flammable gas on contact with air. The drums were made safe and the owners were left to arrange for its specialist removal.
A spokesman for BCB Environmental Ltd said the company had taken immediate action after it discovered the arrival of the substance on the lorry.
“The fire officers reported it to the Environment Agency who have been investigating the matter since,” he said.
But, following the incident Tockwith councillor John Savage has asked North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to carry out further investigations.
He said: “I have asked the Chief Fire Officer for a briefing on the exact circumstances of the incident, including details of what chemicals were involved, how long it took for emergency services to reach the scene and what action they took.
“I have also expressed my gratitude to the fire service on behalf of the whole community for their prompt and effective action which may have prevented an accident from becoming a tragedy.”
BCB Environmental Ltd is planning to build a controversial thermal waste treatment plant, subject to planning permission, which it says will turn rubbish into electricty – enough to power 10,000 homes.
But Coun Savage claims the incident reflects one of the reasons why he is so opposed to BCB’s application for the waste incinerator near Tockwith village.
“This lorry was in no way the responsibility of BCB, and I am grateful to learn that they used their expertise to help contain the incident.
“However, it just goes to prove that with potentially hundreds of such lorries coming and going every year, it is only a matter of time before an incident like this occurs with something far more toxic.
“With a housing estate and a primary school only a few hundred metres away, the risk is just too much to take.”
susannah.berry@ypn.co.uk
The full article contains 407 words and appears in Wetherby News newspaper.
