Minutes:
Sally Harvey (Area Director for Kent, South London and East Sussex, Environment Agency) and Scott Cole (Groundwater and Contaminated Land Specialist) were in attendance for this item.
1. Ms Harvey introduced the work of the Environment Agency and its responsibilities in Kent this included investments in flood defences, maintaining flood defence assets, the regulation of waste and water companies, the regulation of oil and chemical sites, supporting planning decisions, influencing major infrastructure proposals to ensure consideration of the environment, and acting as a harbour and navigation authority on certain waterways.
2. Mr Cole explained what Polyfluoroalkyl Substances were, how they were monitored and actions the Environment Agency had taken on them. He told Members that there were several scientific studies raising concerns over these products’ resistance to degradation. He warned that the scientific studies were ongoing and that conclusions hadn’t been drawn but that research was indicating that these substances may be linked to low birth weights in human reproduction and may be toxic to marine life.
3. Mr Cole told Members that the Environment Agency had been expanding their techniques for monitoring these substances and that they had been liaising with a wide range of sectors on PFAS. There had been a particular emphasis on finding where PFAS was impacting the Environment and how it entered water. They had monitored 80 groundwater sites across Kent, South London and East Sussex and had a steadily growing database on PFAS in water. Since 2021 they had been able to make use of local funds for prioritised local investigations.
4. The Agency had been developing a cross-government chemicals strategy which will be published later this year. In the meantime, they told the committee, that the agency provides its data to district councils and water companies.
5. Members asked the following questions of Ms Harvey and Mr Cole.
a) A Member asked if the military fire school at Thanet was a site of concern. Mr Cole told the Member it was on their radar as were other sites in Thanet including farmland. He told Members that Water Companies have also been instructed to look for PFAS and they have been informing the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) is producing a report on this.
b) A Member asked if health outcomes could be assessed against sites with high levels of PFAS and which organisations remit it would fall under to assess sites and how sources could be identified. They also asked if the DWI’s legal PFAS threshold was lower than other countries. Mr Cole told Members that the DWI value was agreed with the UK Health Security Agency and that whilst the WHO doesn’t provide guidance for PFAS it does provide guidance for the two most common PFAS chemicals and the DWI’s threshold is in line with WHO and EU standards and is considered robust and conservative in terms of health. Mr Cole told Members that the Agency were looking into sources of PFAS nationally and that pilot studies were investigating discharge from sewage and landfill operators specifically. He told Members that KCC’s landfill team had been approached to discuss surveying for PFAS. The Environment Agency were targeting sites with higher levels to build a more detailed case study on origin and on mapping health outcomes he told Members that this would fall under the UK Health Security Agency but they were being collaborated with.
c) A Member asked as evidence is built up, what role would the Environment Agency had in discussing the future of PFAS chemicals and whether they could be filtered out of the water supply. Mr Cole told the Committee that many PFAS chemicals had been withdrawn from use and so going forward the focus would be on managing the legacy of PFAS chemicals. On removal of the chemicals from water systems, Mr Cole told Members that water companies will dilute the water by using multiple sources in order to reduce the amount of chemicals found in the end product. He added that carbon filtration was useful against some PFAS but not all and the remediation sectors were already looking into this.
d) A Member raised concerns about sewage discharge in Thanet by Southern Water. Ms Harvey told Members investigations take a significant amount of time but that the Environment Agency were monitoring this area.
RESOLVED to note the contents of the presentation.