Landfill and water pollution – What next?

We know that a major London landfill site at New Years Green in south Harefield has been polluting the chalk aquifer and drinking water source at the Ickenham pumping station since the 1990s. There is a legal duty on the owners of the landfill to put this right and we are trying to find out what has been done and how far the remediation has got.

Hillingdon Council has been refusing to answer questions about what they are doing to prevent further contamination leaking from New Years Green Landfill Site, into groundwater at Ickenham Public Water Source.

The History of the New Years Green Landfill Site and designation as Contaminated Land due to pollution of Controlled Waters (Drinking Water) can be found in the Atkins (2011) London Borough of Hillingdon Remediation Options Appraisal here.

We know that London Borough of Hillingdon (LBH) are the responsible body for the control of pollution from New Years Green landfill site. We know that the landfill site was passed to HS2 at some time in recent years but is the only piece of land given back to the Council. Therefore we are asking the LBH:

• Why have LBH accepted back ownership of the New Years Green contaminated landfill site from HS2 Ltd and the Department of Transport in 2023? Can the landfill site ownership transaction and communications between LBH and HS2 Ltd, be made public?

We know that a network of groundwater monitoring boreholes was created across the landscape south of the New Years Green landfill site. We also know through the EA that LBH adopted the preferred options identified in the Atkins (2011) appraisal (above). Therefore we are asking LBH:

• What has happened to the monitoring data collected for New Years Green Landfill Site? Is this monitoring ongoing or was it stopped, if so at what date and for what reason? Has there been an evaluation of the monitoring data of levels and spread of pollution from the landfill in surrounding groundwater? Has natural attenuation been proven to be active?

We know that there is a legal duty to improve groundwater quality to standards acceptable for human consumption and that the Ickenham source was granted a derogation under the Water Framework Directive to become good quality be 2027. Therefore we are asking LBH:

• What is the next step for stopping pollution from New Years Green landfill site reaching Ickenahm PWS or from reaching other local public water sources?

There is now a real risk that pollution spread from the landfill has speeded up or changed direction due to extensive HS2 works to the east, south and west of New Years Green landfill site. Therefore we are asking LBH:

• Is LBH working with HS2 Ltd, Department of Transport and/or others to monitor or prevent the spread of landfill pollution in the aquifer?