Rubbish from landfill is polluting Blairgowrie’s River Ericht again despite nearly £290,000 being spent on fixing a historic dump.
Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) now have to award yet another contract to stop decades old household and industrial waste contaminating the fishing river.
The bill will come at a time when the local authority’s finances are under extreme pressure.
There have been two attempts to date – costing a total of £287,000 – to contain a landfill site next to the river, which erosion has exposed.
Recent heavy rainfall caused the swollen river to scour the riverbank, undoing remediation work and exposing a fresh 100 yard stretch.
River convener Robert Kellie said more rubbish than ever is now escaping into the river.
He described the situation as “heartbreaking”.
The most recent clean up effort was less than six months ago.
But it was never completed after workers uncovered asbestos.
Despite the work being unfinished, Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) spent £207,000. PKC officials expect the Scottish Government to contribute £95,000 of that total in grant funding.
The spend follows £80,000 of remediation work paid for by PKC in 2018.
‘Just a shambles’
“The repair they did has failed,” said Robert.
“We’re back to square one with that part.
“And there is now another 100 yards of banking open that wasn’t open before.
“It’s heartbreaking to see this, it really is.”
The landfill site causing the pollution at Blairgowrie is an old town dump which operated between the 1940s and 1970s.
It has been found to contain everything from household waste to asbestos.
Contractors working to seal off the landfill site discovered the asbestos in June.
PKC had to bring in a specialist contractor to remove it.
Meanwhile, the added complication of removing asbestos meant contactors never finished the work.
“The fact that we’ve got asbestos coming out of there is worrying,” said Robert.
“It’s just a shambles.
“In this day and age, things like this should not happen.”
What now?
A PKC spokesperson confirmed the total cost of the works at the Ericht this year has come to £207,000.
She added: “A specialist contractor was brought in to remove the asbestos found.
“As a result, it was not possible to complete the planned remediation works within the available time period, due to environmental constraints.”
The spokesperson said after discussing the matter with experts at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) the council decided to “close up the site and seek to arrange a new contract”.
She added that work would restart at the landfill next year “subject to available resources.”
Robert has raised the matter with local SNP MSP John Swinney, who has been in touch with PKC to “explore potential solutions”.
Mr Swinney said: “Accordingly, I will ensure that I am available to assist and support all efforts to repair this site.”
Meanwhile, Robert said there would have to be an extensive clear-up of the river in spring.
In April this year, anglers filled 60 refuse bags with rubbish from the Blairgowrie landfill site.
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