CAERPHILLY council is carrying out further investigations at a disused quarry following allegations toxic waste is leaching out into nearby woodland.

There are fears locally that highly carcinogenic chemicals and other pollutants were dumped at Ty Llwyd Quarry, in Ynysddu, decades ago and are now seeping into the surrounding environment.

Rhianon Passmore, the Senedd member for Islwyn, said she had received assurances Caerphilly County Borough Council was “undertaking further monitoring and assessments” at the quarry site before publishing a report on the findings.

Council documents show it is “believed that the nature of waste that went into the former Ty Llwyd Quarry included baled jay cloths, plastic reject pens, clay, flattened egg tins, general factory and canteen waste, Poly Chlorinated Biphenols (PCBs), fabrics, paper and card soaked by solvents, plastics and various chemicals”.

The Argus reported previously local concerns over the possible presence of PCBs, which were used in electronics equipment but later banned in the UK because they were toxic to humans and animals.

Ty Llwyd Quarry hasn’t been filled since the 1970s and was topped off with shale and soil.

The site is “securely fenced off” and a “significant amount of monitoring has taken place on and around the site since the 1990s and we continue to monitor the site to present day”, council documents show.

But “recent prolonged wet weather has tested the newly installed drainage system and unfortunately it has not coped with the amount of flow, resulting in leachate over tipping and running through the [nearby, council-owned] woodland area… and a small amount leaving site and spilling on to the public highway”.

Welsh Government climate change minister Julie James, in correspondence with Ms Passmore, acknowledges reports the “leachate collection system… has failed during recent peak rainfall events”, prompting Natural Resources Wales investigators to visit the site.

“The council and Natural Resources Wales will report back to the Welsh Government and the climate change minister… who has promised to provide me with a full update,” Ms Passmore said.

“The relevant agencies must now be allowed to conduct their work and be allowed to report back and undertake any work that is required. 

“All agencies are aware of their statutory legal duties and are committed to ensure the safety and public health of the local community.”