Britain: Radioactive waste found at Olympics site

Thousands of tons of earth contaminated with radioactive waste have been identified at the site of the London Olympics at Marshgate Lane in Stratford, George Galloway, a left-wing MP for the anti-war Respect party, said on July 27.

"The waste is to be buried in a giant container near the River Lae", Galloway said. "This is a shocking revelation."

Galloway said he wrote to the Olympics Development Authority three years ago "expressing profound concerns over radioactive waste on the Olympics site, raised with me by residents in Bow and adjoining areas. I was told that this was being closely monitored and there was absolutely no danger to residents or to workers on the site.

"Now we learn through documents, obtained by local resident Mike Wells, that over 7,300 tons of earth from the site, polluted with radioactive waste, is to be buried in a vast container near the River Lea and under residential housing.

The documents also state that "homes built over or near the container should be designed to ensure the poisonous gas Radon does not collect in homes", Galloway said.

"Most disturbing of all is that the government and the Olympic authorities have not been transparent and open about what they have found and what they intend to do about it, but that this has only come to light through detective work by a local resident.

"We certainly need urgent reassurances that this radioactive waste has been safely cleared, that it is currently safely stored and that it will be safely stored on a long-term basis."

From GLW issue 805