Welsh Affairs Committee to hold evidence session on abandoned mine pollution in Wales
MPs are to hold a formal evidence session on metal mine pollution in Wales, as a parliamentary inquiry examines what has been left behind by the country’s industrial past.
The Welsh Affairs Committee, which scrutinises matters affecting Wales at Westminster, will hear oral evidence on 1 July as part of its broader inquiry into the environmental and economic legacy of Wales’s old industries.
Around 1,300 abandoned metal mine sites across Wales are affecting the water quality and ecology of more than 700km of rivers, streams and lakes, according to figures from the Mining Remediation Authority, the public body responsible for managing the problem.
Flintshire has its own share of that history.
The hills around Halkyn and Cilcain were home to lead, zinc and gold mines that reached their peak in the late 19th century and largely ceased operating in the 1920s.
Those mines are now a source of metals including cadmium, lead, zinc and copper found in nearby watercourses.
At elevated concentrations, those metals can damage fish stocks and plant life.
The committee’s chair, Ruth Jones MP, said: “While the extraction of metals such as zinc, lead and gold was once an important part of Welsh industry, the legacy of abandoned mines now poses a serious threat to the animal and plant life of our rivers, streams and lakes, and possibly even to human health.”
“Our session will be exploring the scale and consequences of metal mine pollution and whether more can be done to tackle this ongoing environmental challenge.”
The 1 July session will also allow the committee to assess what progress has been made since a similar hearing was held two years ago by the predecessor committee.
The committee is inviting written submissions from individuals, communities and organisations with evidence to offer on the scale of the problem, what should be done about it, and how people living near affected sites can be better supported and informed.
The inquiry is being conducted by the Welsh Affairs Committee, whose membership is listed on the UK Parliament website.
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