Contaminated land case study - Renfrew

Families living in a housing development that was constructed on contaminated land have celebrated the completion of a £3million clean-up project to remove gas works buried under their properties.

During the 1970’s, 26 homes were built on land at Royal Inch Crescent in Renfrew on the site of a former gas works. The contamination only came to light when work on foundations, which were being dug for a conservatory to be constructed in one of the gardens, uncovered massive gas storage tanks. The tanks, containing tarry residues, had been left in the ground while homes were built on and around them, and the tar had subsequently started seeping out, contaminating the surrounding soil and ground water.

The news comes as a huge relief to residents, who at one stage were considering taking legal action over the matter: ‘It has been a difficult and worrying time over the past five years since the contamination was first discovered. We are grateful that this has now been resolved and we can get on with our lives’ said one relieved resident.

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