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Caerphilly Council has been issued with a warning after it allowed contaminated water from a hazardous waste site to spill onto a public road.

The letter came from Natural Resources Wales (NRW), who have been investigating.

The incident happened at Ty Llwyd quarry, near Ynysddu, in early January following heavy rain.

Earlier this year, samples of leachate from the council-owned quarry were analysed in a Greenpeace laboratory, following reports of a “toxic smell” and brown, foamy liquid coming from the site.

Tests of the samples by Greenpeace found a number of toxic and industrial chemicals including a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). PCBs are a group of man-made chemicals widely used in the manufacture of electronics.

It is thought PCBs were dumped at the quarry by chemical firm Monsanto from its Newport factory decades ago.

A council spokesperson said the authority will continue to work with NRW as its investigation into the quarry contamination concludes.

The spokesperson said: “The level of rainfall caused the leachate drainage system serving the quarry to overtop, resulting in water containing leachate to leave owned land known as Pantyfynnon woodland and discharge on to the public highway below the site.”

The council has said it has “recently entered in to pre-application discussions to determine whether there is a requirement for a formal water discharge consent to be in place at the site”.

The spokesperson continued: “Further technical assessments will be required to inform this process and the council will be working with their contaminated land consultants to progress this work and produce an updated management plan for the site.

“Local ward councillors have been briefed on the outcome of the investigation and a copy of the letter from NRW has been shared with them for information.”

“We feel vindicated”

Councillor Janine Reed, who represents Ynysddu as an independent, has been campaigning for action to be taken over the quarry since her election last year.

Speaking to Caerphilly Observer after the council issued its statement, Cllr Reed said she and fellow Ynysddu councillor Jan Jones “feel vindicated” – and accused the council of “whitewashing the truth” in its statement.

Cllr Reed also said the council had “not been open and honest with people about the situation”.

The council’s statement regarding the issue made no mention of the fact it had been issued with a warning letter.

Cllr Reed and Cllr Jones want the Welsh Government to carry out an independent public inquiry into the Ty Llwyd situation.

Both councillors tabled a motion during a heated council meeting on Tuesday July 4, calling on the council to write to Welsh Government asking for an inquiry.

This motion was approved by councillors.

“Robust sampling plan”

In a statement issued following the approval of Cllr Reed and Cllr Jones’ motion, the council said it has “scheduled a robust sampling plan across a number of locations to closely monitor the situation” and will keep NRW updated.

It continued: “This plan will be informed by a further eight months of sampling to take into account the seasonal effects, and will address the issue of whether the site meets the legal definition of contaminated land.

“In addition there are further assessments to establish whether a water discharge consent is required from NRW and if so what additional leachate treatment will be required to achieve compliance with that consent.”

Meanwhile, council cabinet member Cllr Philippa Leonard said the council was keen to “tackle any misinformation circulating in the community” and added: “We do not feel this public scaremongering is helpful.”

Cllr Leonard continued: “It is important to note that when we received the letter from NRW following the investigation, we shared the contents with local [councillors] and we issued a statement in the spirit of transparency, the approach we have taken throughout this process.”

Cllr Leonard added: “I want to give the community my assurance that we are committed to closely monitoring the site and I encourage local [councillors] to attend the ongoing meetings regarding the future management of the site.”