Chemicals at former fuel depot 'have been removed'
Barrels of forever chemicals left at a development site have been removed, a developer has said.
In Oxfordshire, a former RAF and Esso fuel storage and transfer facility, known as the Islip Fuel Depot, plans to remove barrels of chemicals left at the site for decades. Newcore, the developer, confirmed the removal of about 40 barrels of firefighting foam liquid, which contains PFAS, or "forever chemicals." Concerns arose when campaigners discovered the barrels, suspecting them to be the source of PFAS contamination from the former RAF Upper Heyford.
Newcore CEO Hugo Llewelyn stated that the site had outline planning permission for residential and affordable homes. He noted that the contaminated barrels were identified and removed in a responsible manner. Despite the concerns raised by campaigners, Llewelyn disputed their testing results, claiming that his own testing produced levels of PFAS roughly 98% lower than the campaigners' findings.
The Environment Agency's Chemical Compliance team had advised proper management of the drums since contacting the site owners.
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