19/07/2005 - On Tuesday
26 and Wednesday 27 July 2005, Environment
Agency chairman Sir John Harman will visit
the West Midlands to see several projects
which are making the region a better place.
Sir John’s visit will focus on industry and
regeneration, and over the two days he will
visit Mueller Europe in Bilston, the Sustainable
Management of Urban Rivers and Floodplains
(SMURF) project’s changes in Perry Hall Playing
Fields and IMI’s former site in Witton, now
known as ‘The Hub’. Each site has its own
particular story to tell concerning improvements
and making the area a better place for everyone.
During his visit to Mueller Europe, Sir John
will see how the company has taken a proactive
approach to its environmental responsibilities.
The company, the largest supplier of copper
tube in the World, is part of an industry
which historically had a considerable impact
on the environment, producing pollutants such
as heavy metals and dioxins.
Over the past five years, the company has
invested £500,000 in environmental improvements.
New Government rules to cut greenhouse gases
mean that companies can produce a certain
amount of these gases. If they produce below
this level, they can ‘sell’ part of their
quota to other companies looking to produce
more than their limit.
Mainly as a result of this investment, Mueller
recently achieved its carbon emission reduction
target early and will shortly be able to trade
up to £27,000 worth of carbon credits.
The second visit on the 26 July 2005 will
be to Perry Hall Playing Fields. Here Sir
John will see the results of the three year
Sustainable Management of Urban Rivers and
Floodplains (SMURF) project, set up to improve
stretches of Birmingham’s rivers.
The city-wide project to study its three
main rivers and how they could be improved
recently ended in works being carried out
on a stretch of the River Tame running through
the playing fields This has involved the creation
of more natural features to try and soften
some of the hard engineering of times gone
by.
A stretch of very straight and steep river
bank has been levelled off and a more natural,
wider meander has been created. A key component
of the work was community involvement
Sir John’s final site visit, which will take
place on the afternoon of the 27 July, will
be to ‘The Hub’, IMI’s former site in Witton.
This site, approximately 38ha in size, has
a long industrial history of various uses,
which has left a legacy of soil and groundwater
pollution from a range of hydrocarbon, inorganic
and solvent contaminants.
It is now being redeveloped as a major new
industrial estate and business park, which
will be opened in April 2006. We are a statutory
consultee to the planning authority, with
responsibility for ensuring groundwater is
protected. We are working directly with the
contractor restoring the site, monitoring
data from investigations and agreeing what
remediation needs to be carried out.
Commenting on his planned visit, Sir John
says: ‘I think everyone is aware of the harsh
impact industry and development has had on
the environment of the West Midlands and the
legacy it has left over many years.
‘It will be excellent to see some of the
exciting changes and improvements being carried
out in this region, developments which are
creating both a better environment and efficiencies
for the companies implementing them. We have
been at the forefront of this work and will
continue contributing to this process.’
