Michael Sheen to appear before MPs following documentary on toxic waste dumping

Actor and campaigner Michael Sheen will appear before MPs following a BBC investigation into claims that toxic industrial waste was dumped in communities across Wales.

Buried with Michael Sheen, a two-part documentary which aired on BBC One Wales and BBC Two last month, examined historical dumping of banned chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

The programme followed Sheen and investigative journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor as they examined evidence left behind by whistleblower Douglas Gowan.

Before his death in 2017, Mr Gowan claimed that chemical manufacturer Monsanto buried thousands of tonnes of toxic waste in former quarries during the 1960s and 1970s. Among the locations highlighted in the investigation is Ty Llwyd Quarry in Ynysddu.

On Thursday September 10, Sheen will appear before members of the Welsh Affairs Committee in Westminster, alongside Mr Ashby and Ms Taylor, to discuss the issue.

The committee is chaired by Newport West and Islwyn’s Labour MP Ruth Jones, who described the investigation as “moving and worrying”.

Ms Jones said: “The lack of resources available to identify, monitor and clean-up potentially affected sites and the absence of support and information for people living in areas that could be contaminated have been highlighted both by the documentary and by witnesses at our evidence sessions on the issue.

“As a committee we are dismayed that the legacy of contaminated land has been left unaddressed for so long, and we have already written to the new Welsh Secretary to press for more action to ensure there is funding for cleaning up land, support for those at risk and that there is a coordinated four-nation approach to testing.”

She added: “We will be returning to our inquiry into the environmental and economic legacy of Wales’ industrial past in the coming weeks to make sure it remains a key issue for the government and does not slip from the spotlight.”

The session will explore which policies and legislation could be introduced to better support communities living near former industrial sites.

The committee will also likely explore the witnesses’ views on testing and what support those with elevated levels of ‘forever chemicals’ may require.