Our consultant geologist Bryan Lovell has written to the Planning Inspectorate detailing concerns over the threat to local drinking water presented by the proposed quarry north of Bengeo.
In his letter, Dr Lovell describes the geology of the site and the risks identified not only by the applicant’s own consultants, Hafren Water, but also by a report for McMullen’s Brewery in 1992. The risks were also identified by the Lea Valley Water Company in 1990.
“Fractures in the chalk aquifer mean that any pollution can reach the Wadesmill Road boreholes rapidly. But clearing pollution from the small pores within the body of chalk rock is a lengthy and costly business. By the time any pollution is detected, lasting damage may well have been done to Hertford’s aquifer. Monitoring of pollution as it takes place is not the main issue: pollution must be prevented from the word go. ”
Dr Bryan Lovell
The letter goes on to address the necessary steps that would need to be taken to protect the water supply and the feasibility of those steps.
In his closing comments, Dr Lovell says: “You wouldn’t drill boreholes in the chalk at the edge of a working quarry to supply a town with water. So don’t put a quarry by these boreholes”.