At least 5,000 most high-risk toxic sites untested by Scottish councils

There are at least 4,909 most high-risk toxic sites across Scotland, potentially exposing people nearby to health risks.

Scottish councils have left 93% of potentially contaminated land considered to be at the worst level untested and uninspected.

The lack of inspections could be leaving thousands at risk from serious contaminants including lead, arsenic and asbestos, according to experts.

Lead poisoning manifests in impact on the brain, according to Dr Ian Mudway, a senior lecturer in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London specialising in the effects of environmental exposures.

“You will see impacts on sort of cognition in children, IQ development in children, anxiety, conduct disorders in children.

“A lot of the early regulation and understanding of how lead was affecting health is really based on the sort of the impacts of lead on brain health and particularly on the health of the developing brain.

“In the United States, for example, they’ve shown associations between elevated blood levels of lead and cardiovascular disease. There’s already links between elevated lead exposures and kidney disease. There’s an emerging literature on miscarriage risk and low birth weight.”

Globally, Dr Mudway estimated there are between half a million to just under a million premature deaths per year because of the release of lead into the environment.

Less than 10% of the highest-risk parcels of potentially contaminated land in Scotland have been physically inspected for toxins such as lead, according to data from the BBC’s Shared Data Unit.

There are 73,732 sites identified across Aberdeen, Angus, Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Moray, East Renfrewshire, Fife, Highland, Clackmannanshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Stirling, East Ayrshire, Falkirk, West Lothian and West Dunbartonshire.

“If councils find it’s a contaminated site where there is a possible risk of harm there will be substantial costs involved and they don’t want that,” said Phil Hartley, a former environmental officer previously in charge of fixing Newcastle’s contaminated land.

“There’s a risk to health there and that’s not good.”

At the turn of the century, councils across the UK were forced to identify and prioritise sites of potential contamination based on historic land use – such as land that might have been contaminated by former tar pits, tanneries, tips and other forms of heavy industry.

Councils were told to prioritise the highest-risk sites, test them and clean them up where necessary.

However, freedom of information requests found that testing and remediation has not happened in most cases.

17 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities provided land contamination data, and out of the 5,436 sites identified as high risk, only 527 have had any physical testing or inspection.

West Lothian Council had the most high-risk sites of any other council area at 2,752, with only three having been inspected. However, the council told STV News most of these sites had since been downgraded and that only 43 are now considered to be at the highest risk.

The City of Glasgow has identified 1,189 high risk sites but have only inspected 40. The City of Edinburgh has 190 un-tested high-risk sites; Perth and Kinross Council has 181; North Lanarkshire Council has 156; and Stirling has 123.

There are four sites in Scotland – two in Fife Council and two in West Lothian – where a “significant risk to health” has been identified, but remedial work has not been completed.

Rob Bowditch, Fife’s service manager for public and environmental protection said the council has worked to ensure contaminated land is dealt with as quickly as possible.

He said it was in the process of appointing contractors for the two sites that have not yet been remediated and expects work to be complete this financial year or next if delays are encountered.

“We have an ongoing programme of inspection across Fife and work with landowners and others to ensure that remediation work is carried out to minimise and remove any risks to the public,” Mr Bowditch said.

“We’ve recently completed work to remove the risk of contaminated water leaking onto a public path, and we’re currently in the process of tendering for a project to deal with contaminated soil associated with a former factory.”

A West Lothian Council spokesperson said it follows a “development-led” remediation strategy for potentially contaminated land, where sites are dealt with through the planning process.

“We currently have two sites in West Lothian, a former quarry and a former landfill, which have not been remediated. Both are considered low-risk while undisturbed in their current use,” the spokesperson said.

“Any redevelopment of these sites would require the developer to carry out remediation work in advance of other works taking place.”

Grant funding was previously available for councils through the UK Government until 2014 when the money was withdrawn, leaving councils on the hook for testing and remediation costs themselves.

STV News approached the councils named for comment.