MPs launch probe into health risks from abandoned Welsh mines

A UK parliamentary committee has launched an investigation into the human health risks posed by abandoned metal mines in Wales following revelations from a Financial Times investigation.

Stephen Crabb, the Conservative chair of the House of Commons Welsh affairs committee, said on Tuesday: “The information uncovered by the Financial Times about metal mine pollution in Welsh rivers is deeply concerning.”

His comments came after the FT revealed Welsh government estimates showing that at least 500 tonnes of harmful metals leak into the Welsh environment each year from abandoned mines.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) estimates obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed that 129 sites are “certainly, or highly likely, to be causing failures of water quality criteria”.

“Given the reported volumes of harmful metals being discharged from abandoned mines, there is an urgent need for transparency about the scale of the problem and especially the potential health impacts,” said Crabb, MP for the west Wales constituency of Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Crabb, a former minister, added that his committee would investigate the “impact of metal mine pollution on human health, plans for remediation, the information available to the public, and whether existing regulations and standards are fit for purpose”.

Metals leaking into the environment from mines can accumulate in soil and floodplain used for homegrown and agricultural food production.

A study funded by NRW and published last year uncovered harmful levels of lead in eggs on two small farms downstream from abandoned lead mines in west Wales.

It found that a young child eating one to two of the eggs per day “could become cognitively impaired”. The academics behind the study told the FT the eggs were eaten on the farms and sold in local markets.

The study’s findings prompted the Welsh government to convene two meetings last year with officials from across the UK, including both the Food Standards Agency and Health Security Agency.

The formal review by MPs will add to pressure on both the Welsh government and NRW to tackle the legacy of Britain’s mining past.

As far back as 2002, the Metal Mine Strategy for Wales identified 50 abandoned metal mines causing the greatest impact on rivers.

But since then NRW has completed just one major remediation scheme on Frongoch, a former lead and zinc mine in Ceredigion, and smaller scale remedial works on two other sites. 

There are an estimated 1,300 abandoned mines in Wales and a total of 8,500 across the UK. Nine of the 10 worst metal mine-polluted catchments in the UK are in Wales, according to official estimates.

NRW has responsibility for remediating former mine sites in Wales. However, it is not clear whose duty it is to inform the public of the possible risks to homegrown food.

Welsh officials told the FT there was an absence of regulatory standards when it came to the impact of former mines on human health.

Lead is particularly dangerous to humans and there is no level of exposure known to be without harmful effects, according to the World Health Organization.

Lead exposure increases the risk of miscarriage, preterm births, depression, chronic kidney disease and heart attacks in adults.

Children are the most vulnerable to exposure and at risk of life-long reductions in IQ as well as behavioural problems.