Green Light For Clean Up Plans

A £10 million radiation clean-up plan to re-open Dalgety Bay beach has been approved by councillors.

The Ministry of Defence is funding the work after admitting dumping parts from military aircraft at a now disused airfield.

The work is due to be completed by 2018, after a 20 year campaign by locals.

The Management Strategy comprises:

• Installation of rock armouring in areas where it is currently absent to mitigate against the loss of known landward radium contamination into the foreshore environment
• Replace/reinforce existing coastal armour protection to mitigate against theloss of landward radium contamination into the foreshore environment
• Removal of high activity radium materials from selected accessible foreshore areas
• Limited reprofiling of foreshore and placement of rock armour cover system to isolate remaining radium contamination.

In a report to the Executive Committee, Protective Services Senior Manager Roy Stewart said:

"The proposed works outlined by MoD are intended to provide a long term solution tothe radium contamination of Dalgety Bay which if successful will allow the public to use the entire area again in an unrestricted manner.

"The proposals are to be welcomed and we will continue to work with MoD, SEPA and other partners as detailed plans for the works are developed and implemented. If these works are completed successfully it is considered that this will allow the closure of this long running issue in radiological protection terms with on-going maintenance works becoming part of the responsibility of Transportation and Environment with a maintenance budget allocated accordingly.

"Discussions are on-going with the involved parties through the Implementation Group, Project Board and Permitting Group to progress the detail of the proposed option. The progression of the necessary Consents the general principles of which are included in the Framework Agreement and the indicative timeline for the various stages through to summer 2018 now allow us to more clearly see a path towards the resolution of the radium contamination.

"In the interim, the MoD will continue to undertake a monthly monitoring programme,which reduces the hazards and risks at the site. The monthly monitoring programme together with the demarcated area and signs advising the public not to access particular areas of the beach, and not to remove anything from the beach, reduces the risks to the public until all the works are satisfactorily completed."