Green MP Sian Berry urged the government to bring forward Zane’s Law to protect people from contaminated land after new research showed that out of 13,093 potentially toxic sites that councils have identified as high risk, only 1,465 have been inspected (1).
Zane’s Law, named after seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola who died when Hydrogen Cyanide was carried by floodwater from a contaminated landfill site into his home in 2014, was previously brought forward as a Private Members Bill by former Green MP Caroline Lucas (2).
Now Sian Berry, who won the Brighton Pavilion seat held by Lucas, said: “People will be harmed unless UK regulations on contaminated land are changed, as this new research shows.
“Our current laws are dangerously inadequate, especially given climate breakdown, rising sea levels, increased rainfall, and flooding that will continue to disturb this contaminated land.”
Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter added:
“The fact that half of Welsh Councils are unable or unwilling to give figures for potential toxic sites, while of those identified the vast majority remain uninspected is a shocking indictment of a lack of leadership at every level of government.
“Communities across Wales have for too long suffered the toxic legacies of polluting industries. This contaminated land crisis demands urgent legislation at a UK government level for the safety of our communities and future generations.”
Sian Berry added:
“Zane’s Law would align the UK with global best practice for the protection of communities from hazardous land. It would reinstate legislative provisions removed by the Conservative government from the 1990 Environment Protection Act and ensure the UK adheres to the Universal Right to a Healthy Environment, endorsed by the UN in July 2022.”
NOTES TO EDITORS