MP GEORGE Galloway is calling on the Government and 2012 Olympic bosses to give urgent advice from independent scientists about any threat from radioactive toxic waste found on the Olympic Park site in East London. Around 7,300 tonnes with radioactive traces have been buried in a storage cell just yards from the stadium
MP GEORGE Galloway is calling on the Government and 2012 Olympic bosses to give urgent advice from independent scientists about any threat from radioactive toxic waste found on the Olympic Park site in East London.
It follows revelations that 7,300 tonnes of soil containing radioactive traces, have been buried in a storage cell between just yards from the River Lea.
But the Olympics authority today sought to allay fears raised by the MP whose Bethnal Green & Bow constituency backs onto the massive site.
A huge 130ft container has been built into a road bridge embankment by the river just north of the stadium where the contaminated soil has been encased.
BURIED CONTAINER
Galloway learned about the buried container from documents obtained by a resident living close by, photo journalist Mike Wells.
Galloway said in a letter to the East London Advertiser: “I wrote to ministers and the Olympics authorities three years ago expressing concerns over radioactive waste raised by residents in Bow and was told there was absolutely no danger.
“Now we learn that 7,300 tons of earth polluted with radioactive waste has been buried in a vast container.”
The documents warn that any future homes built near the container should be designed to minimise the risk of radon seeping in.
1940s LANDFILL
The soil came from a 1940s landfill site which had to be cleared before businfg could begin.
The Environment Agency’s Olympics project manager Rosemary Redmond said: “ Some of the soil from the clearance work contained traces of low level radioactivity, comparable to background radiation occurring naturally in geological formations such as granite.”
This soil was “safely buried in a cell, covered and capped on all sides, a proven, safe method of disposing of such material.”
The Olympics authority said material with “low level radioactive elements” was found.
Their spokesman assured: “A small amount of soil containing traces of very low level radioactive material has been safely buried, in accordance with Environment Agency guidance.”
The material is buried at least 9ft below a bridge abutment.
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