A COMPANY building hundreds of homes next to a polluted stream has insisted it did not know about the contamination until last month.
Avant Homes is re-developing the Oatlands scheme in south-east Glasgow after a predecessor company bought the former council scheme for just £1.
Last month council officials fenced off Polmadie Burn, which cuts through the development, after its waters turned green, a sign they were carrying cancer-causing Chromium-VI. The move sparked serious concern among both homeowners and tenants in the mixed private and social housing scheme.
The stream has been listed as “bad” by environmental watchdog Sepa for some years. The agency, for example, cited chromium in the burn in its board papers for April 2012. Polmadie chromium also featured in Sepa river studies published in 2009 and 2017.
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However, in a statement to The Herald, a spokeswoman for Avant Homes said the firm had been unaware of chromium problems in the burn, which runs past a part of the Oatlands scheme dubbed Richmond Gate.
She said: “We were first made aware of the potential presence of a contaminant in the burn by a local resident who contacted us on February 13 after noticing discolouration in the water.
“Following this, we were contacted by Glasgow City Council, which explained the situation and informed us the contaminant was hexavalent chromium.
“We had no prior knowledge of the presence of, or any potential risk of exposure to, hexavalent chromium near our Richmond Gate development.
“The safety of our residents is paramount, and we have erected a temporary fence on the sides of the burn that are alongside the development. We remain in close contact with Sepa and Glasgow City Council while they examine the burn and await their advice on any further necessary action to be taken.”
The Herald has obtained a copy of a widely distributed email chain between residents, city councillors and Avant
executives. In this chain Andrew Riddle, of Avant Homes, appears to suggest his company had been aware of previous pollution problems – but that it had assumed they were being remedied.
Mr Riddle, on February 13, wrote: “It is our understanding that Sepa were aware in the past of historic contaminants within the burn and it was therefore reasonable for Avant to assume this has/will be dealt with between Glasgow City Council and Sepa as appropriate.”
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The executive copied and pasted a previous email from February 9 that again suggested knowledge of pollution, if not chromium. He wrote: “Sepa has previously advised of historic contaminants in the burn... they advised this was likely to have been brought down by a water feed which starts at the Cathkin Braes. Sepa should therefore be able to confirm... the type and extent of any contaminants.”
Local authorities, Sepa and Clyde Gateway continue to work to tackle recent pollution in the burn. A spokesman for the city council said: “Our environmental health staff have been closely monitoring the recent contamination in Polmadie Burn.
“Access to the burn is now restricted, recent rainfall helped to dilute the level of contaminant in the water and further controlled dilution of the waterway remains an option to deal with the pollution.
“Colleagues at Clyde Gateway have been working to divert the West Burn culvert away from the main area of contamination at Shawfield, which should greatly reduce the risk of further pollution.”
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