Forever chemicals at former Oxfordshire fuel depot 'have been removed'

Barrels of chemicals left at an approved development site have been removed and testing carried out, a developer has said.

The Islip Fuel Depot in Oxfordshire is a former RAF and Esso fuel storage and transfer facility and has had outline planning permission approved to build residential and affordable homes.

Concerns were raised after campaigners discovered about 40 barrels of firefighting foam liquid, which contains PFAS - a group of chemicals often dubbed forever chemicals, had been left at the site for decades.

Developer, Newcore, said it had already identified the potential contamination and that "this potential risk and any contamination identified will be cleaned up immediately."

The depot previously supplied fuel to the former RAF Upper Heyford, around five miles north, which is suspected to be the source of forever chemical, or PFAS, contamination from firefighting foam.

Images show the barrels to be manufactured by Angus Fire Armour, that settled a legal battle out of court with residents in Yorkshire, after claims they had been exposed to PFAS near the company's foam manufacturing plant.

CEO of Newcore, Hugo Llewelyn, who took over the site in 2012, said it plans to regenerate the site with 50% affordable housing and that it was made aware of the barrels "in recent weeks" and had them removed in a "responsible and professional manner".

"Whilst firefighting foam containers were present on site from the MOD's operation back in the 20th Century, we do not believe it was ever deployed; the containers were sealed; and successive surveys have confirmed that there is no "pathway" for it to cause pollution," he added.

Mr Llewelyn disputes the quality of the testing carried out by campaigners.

"A 'pressure group' has trespassed unlawfully to obtain a questionable sample from this site to demonstrate that in the secured area of the site that was purposefully designed to accommodate foam for firefighting purposes, which is likely to contain PFAS, does, according to their findings, contain PFAS.

"I'm not sure there is anything to be surprised about here," he said.

He added that a Phase 1 assessment of the site last year had already identified the potential for contamination and that, "the specification for the Phase 2 investigation has therefore been designed to specifically address this potential risk and any contamination identified will be cleaned up immediately".

The Environment Agency's Chemical Compliance team had contacted the site owners to ensure that the drums are properly managed.

Campaigners from Gallos Brook community group, who have been regularly testing for PFAS in the area, took a sample of soil near the storage area which they claimed is "likely the highest level of soil contamination measured anywhere in the UK."

The group said the sample, which was analysed by a UKAS certified laboratory, came back as having 3,743.3 micrograms of PFAS per kilo. PFOS - a particular forever chemical - was found in their testing to be 205 times higher than the safe limit for residential land use.

Llewelyn disputed the testing carried out by campaigners and produced his own results which he claimed were taken from the same area, as part of the Phase 2 investigations.

He said these produced a total level of 64.1 micrograms per kilo of PFAS, roughly 98% lower than results by the campaigners, and were "the accurate results of our professional testing."

The BBC has not been presented with the official lab results to verify these independently.

Town brings legal case over 'forever chemicals'

Campaigners spend thousands on chemical pollution tests