A South Wales MS has been seeking assurances from the Government over plans to clean up an area of toxic waste in the Caerphilly county borough. 

South Wales East MS Delyth Jewell has asked the Welsh Government about the steps Cabinet Secretaries are taking to monitor and clean up the old Ty Llwyd quarry near Ynysddu in Caerphilly County.

Deputy Senedd Leader of Plaid Cymru and Climate Change spokesperson Delyth Jewell MS said:

“The legacy of chemical waste in our Valleys is poisoning our land. I demanded a statement from the Welsh Government addressing the huge problems thrown up by these forever chemicals.

“People will be familiar with the plight of Ynysddu in my region where chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls, or PShe saCBs, still contaminate the water and the landscape.

“The actor and campaigner Michael Sheen has drawn attention to this scandal recently in the press, and local councillors and campaigners have long sought answers about why these toxins aren’t being acknowledged or cleared, because PCBs are highly toxic.

"The production of these chemicals is banned in 151 countries, including now the UK.

“But, unluckily, those communities where PCBs were left to pollute the land all those years ago—still they are reaping the wreckage.

"I asked for a statement to give my constituents assurance that the Welsh Government and local councils are taking this issue seriously and that there will be a national response to protect those communities from these PCBs at long last.”

The Welsh Government’s Trefnydd and Chief Whip Jane Hutt MS responded in the Senedd:

“This is very much a cross-Government issue. We recognise this. In terms of the evidence that’s coming out from your region in terms of those particular sites where there are PCBs and contamination, I certainly will be asking the Cabinet Secretary for an appropriate way to look at this in terms of acknowledging the concerns for constituents across Wales.”