Sixteen calamitous decisions by Cardiff Council

Toxic waste pouring into Ely river 

March 2022

The news that pollution is pouring from Grangemoor park, for which the council is responsible, into the river Ely, exemplifies their terrible environmental record and incompetence.  It is an example of the council failing in their basic duty to keep residents safe.  

As reported in Wales Online, contaminated water from an old landfill was polluting the river Ely and Cardiff Bay due to a lack of knowledge about how to manage the site.

The giant landfill at Ferry Road in Grangetown closed in 1994 and is now the site of a park and a shopping centre.

Natural Resources Wales inspectors said that leachate, contaminated water, from the landfill — water mixed with chemicals from decomposing rubbish — was meant to be pumped out of the tip to stop it from leaking into the river and the Bay.

But they found a pumping station at the landfill was not functioning properly, and staff responsible for managing the site didn’t know what the pumping station was supposed to do. The action plan has still not been produced – despite the matter being deemed as urgent.