Wolverhampton City Council yesterday (October 22) announced it was to fund a £500,000 scientific investigation looking at contamination affecting homes built on the site of Courtaulds Dunstall Hall Works.

Possible asbestos in gardens on the Farndale Estate in the ciy first came to light during the investigation into carbon disulphide, a chemical which was used in the manufacture of rayon at Courtaulds in 2005.

Tests are also due to be run on a further 270 homes in the surrounding area on the advice of environmental consultants, the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) starting next month.

The council’s chief regulatory services officer, Nick Edwards, said the investigation would hopefully mark the final stages in the council’s comprehensive programme to rid the estate of contaminants.

He said: “To protect the public and the environment, the council investigates suspected contaminated land, identifies who is responsible for remediation and brings about the remediation of contaminated land.

“The investigation will be similar to the one conducted for carbon disulphide, samples will be taken from gardens and once we have the results of the complete investigation we will let the residents know what we have found.

“We will try our very best to keep disruption to a minimum and, where we can, to conduct the investigations at residents’ convenience.”

Luke Walsh

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