Hundreds of tons of contaminated rubble has been dumped in a pit next to a nature reserve.

Garff MHK Daphne Caine, who raised the issued in Tynwald, branded it an ’ongoing environmental scandal’.

Some 1,451 tons of hazardous waste from the site of the demolished Strathallan tram depot was dumped at Wright’s Pit North in Bride between March 2019 and March last year. The unlined pit borders Manx Birdlife’s proposed Point of Ayre nature reserve.

It was only in August 2019 when contaminated soil and stone was added to the waste disposal licence.

But now that licence amendment is being revoked by DEFA following environmental concerns.

DEFA Minister Geoffrey Boot told Tynwald that the results of borehole monitoring of groundwater indicate a risk of leachate contamination of the western lake, part of the Ayres gravel pit area of special protection for birds.

Mr Boot said the variation to the waste disposal licence was being revoked as a ’precautionary measure’.

He said this means there is now no on-island facility for the disposal of soil contaminated with hazardous substances due to environmental accident or from development of a polluted site.

In future this material will either have to be treated in situ or be exported to the UK for recovery or disposal.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Baker said initial analysis of the waste from Strathallan had deemed it suitable for dumping at Wright’s Pit North but a ’more complete review’ later indicated it contained chemicals which classified it as hazardous.

However, it had been deemed to pose no unacceptable risk and so the DoI had applied to DEFA for the licence variation in August 2019.

Mrs Caine said the proximity of Wright’s Pit North to a nature reserve made this a concern to everybody.

Wright’s Pit North was due to close at the end of 2020, having already been granted a 12 month extension in 2019. But MHKs were told it would have to stay open for the time being as there is as yet no alternative site.

Mr Baker said the DoI remained committed to developing a full-engineered landfill facility at Turkeyland.