Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether or not the water supplies for Birmingham contain residues of non-biodegradable PCBs and other toxins as a result of leaching from Brofiscin quarry.

Brofiscin quarry is on an aquifer (water bearing strata/rock), which is hydrogeologically disconnected from the aquifer beneath Elan Valley reservoirs and the associated aqueduct that contribute to Birmingham public water supply. The distance that separates the two locations is significant; therefore there is no pathway for contamination to migrate from the quarry to the Elan aquifer. The Elan aquifer is the nearest aquifer to Brofiscin quarry that contributes to Birmingham’s public water supply and the Environment Agency does not consider Brofiscin quarry to present any risk to Birmingham’s water supply.

Natural Resources Wales is responsible for regulating the Brofiscin quarry site. Any risks relating to this site are a matter for the devolved Welsh Government.