ANY plan to fill in a sand quarry in the middle of St Ouen’s Bay will have to avoid spreading a dangerous chemical into drinking water supplies, the National Trust for Jersey has said.
The environment and heritage campaign group has long expressed concern about how the quarry will be left once all extractable sand within its boundary has been removed.
Recently, Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet said that the privately owned quarry could be used to dump inert waste such as building rubble and glass.
The St Peter site has been identified as a potential waste dump in the Bridging Island Plan, which also proposes that a final parcel of land is allowed to be dug out, providing another 600,000 tonnes of sand, which could extend the quarry’s operational life by another ten years.
The plan adds that restoration of the quarry, where it involves the importation of material, ‘should be undertaken using clean, inert material from natural sources as far as possible and practicable’.
However, water which has percolated into the quarry has been found to be contaminated by a man-made chemical called PFAS – Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances – an ingredient of firefighting foam sprayed at the Airport decades ago.
This chemical has been linked to causing cancer, kidney disease, birth defects and other ailments in humans.
National Trust for Jersey chief executive Charles Alluto said: ‘The sand quarry and a large area of St Ouen’s Bay suffers from extensive PFAS pollution and therefore there is real risk that any landfill could cause the pollution to spread into nearby water extraction wells.
‘The trust would therefore recommend that this option should not even be considered until the outcomes of the current hydrogeological study are fully known and published. Given that the acceptable levels of PFOS [a member of the same chemical group as PFAS] are on a downward trajectory, the government will obviously need to carefully consider its options in this respect.’
The trust is also calling for a ‘comprehensive’ restoration plan, which the Bridging Island Plan requires.
The Simon family, who have owned and run the quarry for over a century, is currently negotiating with the Environment Department over the terms of the extension and restoration. The department is also currently carrying out the hydrogeological study to assess the impact of PFAS contamination in the area.
A spokesman for Simon Sand and Gravel said that the requirement for a reinstatement of the dunescape, using inert waste, had been an expectation of the government since 2018.
‘Sand extraction and reinstatement of landscape are linked, so one can’t happen without the other,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Discussions with various government departments on how best to achieve these objectives are ongoing and are at the early preapplication-advice stage.’
He added: ‘Sand extraction and production have been scaled back greatly over the last 12 months, although limited sales have continued.
‘The ability to return to full-scale extraction is linked directly to the permission being granted which is a requirement needed as part of the Bridging Island Plan.’
Jersey Water do extract water from boreholes in the area but at a reduced rate because of the presence of the chemical. Water is pumped to Val de la Mare reservoir, where it is blended with clean sources to dilute the quantity of PFAS to within internationally recognised limits.
