Brofiscin Quarry

Brofiscin Quarry is privately owned and was leased to waste contractors for use as a landfill, as is common with spent quarries. It was used as a waste site from about 1965 to 1972 and accepted waste from BP, Veolia, and Monsanto.Staff, Wales Online. 17 Oct, 2011 [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/remedial-work-start-quarry-1805774 Remedial work to start on quarry]Burges Salmon LLP. 12 April 2012 [http://www.inhouselawyer.co.uk/index.php/environment/9839-changes-to-the-contaminated-land-regime Changes to the contaminated land regime] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903061851/http://www.inhouselawyer.co.uk/index.php/environment/9839-changes-to-the-contaminated-land-regime# |date=2014-09-03 }} A 2005 report by Environmental Agency Wales found that the quarry contained up to 75 toxic substances, including heavy metals, Agent Orange, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).BBC 15 June 2011 [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-13768700 Brofiscin Quarry pollution at Groesfaen to be cleaned] Prior to its remediation, The Guardian described the site as "one of the most contaminated places in Britain."{{cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/feb/12/uknews.pollution1|title=The wasteland: how years of secret chemical dumping left a toxic legacy|work=The Guardian|date=12 February 2007|access-date=1 September 2014}}

The legislative frameworks prior to 1972 were not designed to deal with hazardous waste and were inadequate. This meant that the local planning department was ill-equipped when a request for planning permission was made in the late 1960s and consent was given. The Poisonous Waste Act 1972 was implemented due to other far smaller occurrences of dumping at other places in the UK.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

In February 2011 The Ecologist and The Guardian reported that Monsanto had agreed to help with the costs of remediation, but did not accept responsibility for the pollution.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/21/monsanto-brofiscin-pollution|title=Monsanto agrees to clean up toxic chemicals in South Wales quarry| work=The Guardian|date=21 February 2011|access-date=5 June 2013}} A webpage at the Environmental Agency site put up at around that time states:

{{blockquote|"We have completed our extensive enquiries to identify those we consider should be held responsible under the contaminated land laws and be held liable for the cost of remediating Brofiscin Quarry. We are at an advanced stage in our consultations with BP, Veolia and Monsanto to provide them with the opportunity to help remediate the land on a voluntary basis. We expect to make further progress on this matter in the next few months. If this approach is unsuccessful, we have the power to carry out the work needed ourselves and recover our costs. The three companies have been identified under the legislation as inheriting the liabilities of companies who were associated with depositing wastes at the quarry."{{cite web|url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/122041.aspx|title=EA responsibility|publisher=Environment Agency Wales|access-date=5 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014105919/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/122041.aspx#|archive-date=2013-10-14|url-status=dead}}}}

In 2011 Environment Agency Wales and the Rhondda Cynon Taf council announced that they had decided to place an engineered cap over the waste mass in the quarryRhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council [http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/en/environmentplanningandwaste/pollution/brofiscin/brofiscin.aspx RCTCBC "Brofiscin" site] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902060620/http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/en/environmentplanningandwaste/pollution/brofiscin/brofiscin.aspx |date=September 2, 2014 }} Accessed 1 September 2014 and stated that the cost would be £1.5 million; previous estimates discussed in the media had been as high as £100 million, which Environment Agency Wales had dismissed.BBC, 12 February 2007, 22:48 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6355835.stm £100m site clean up cost denied] The site was cleared of vegetation and engineering work began in October 2011,BBC 17 October 2011 [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-15331630 Brofiscin Quarry waste clean-up starts near Llantrisant]{{cite web|url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/122045.aspx|title=What happens next?|publisher=Environment Agency Wales|access-date=5 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619002135/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publications/122045.aspx#|archive-date=2013-06-19|url-status=dead}} and was completed in 2012.Stanley PC. [http://contaminated-sites.sazp.sk/sites/default/files/prilohy/zbornik%20komplet_opraveny(1).pdf Brofiscin Quarry Remediation Scheme. Cardiff, Wales.]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} International Conference, Contaminated Sites. Bratislava 2013 pp 111-122

On 14 July 2015, it was reported that Monsanto, BP, and Veolia had agreed to pay to contribute to the cleanup of the site, although they continue to deny liability.{{cite web|last1=Levitt|first1=Tom|title=Monsanto, BP and Veolia agree to pay for cleanup of contaminated Welsh site|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/14/monsanto-bp-veolia-agree-to-pay-for-cleanup-contaminated-welsh-quarry-site|work=The Guardian|access-date=1 September 2017}}

The clean-up is an incomplete containment, with a chemical smell still evident in boundary ditches and strong concerns remaining about neighbouring fields.

It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the exposed Early Carboniferous geological formations on the site.

• List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Mid & South Glamorgan

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Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Rhondda Cynon Taf

Category:Monsanto

Category:Landfills in the United Kingdom