Today Marcus Drecker was released on bail and able to come home to his family.
And Lewes District Council just unanimously passed this motion
https://democracy.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=431&MId=3826
https://democracy.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/documents/s31058/Motion%20-%20Support%20for%20Zanes%20Law.pdf
Motion - Support for Zane’s Law
Submitted by Councillor Makepeace
Preamble
The current UK regulations with regard to toxic waste disposal and the danger to human
life, to our environment, and to the planet as a whole, from both historic landfill sites and
currently approved landfill sites operating the ‘dry tomb’ principle, are dangerously
inadequate. Especially so, in the face of climate breakdown, with rising sea levels,
increased rainfall, and widespread flooding.
In 2014, 7-year-old Zane Gbangbola died, and his father was paralysed with a diagnosis of
hydrogen cyanide (HCN) poisoning, during catastrophic flooding in the UK. It is understood
that flood water passing through a historic landfill site carried HCN into Zane’s home, and
this was detected there at high levels by the Fire and Rescue Services on the night of the
tragedy. This is expected to be the subject of an Independent Panel Inquiry.
‘Zane’s Law’ seeks to address the crisis of contaminated land in the UK, reinstating
legislative provisions removed by successive governments from the 1990 Environment
Protection Act, and recognising the Human Right to a Healthy Environment, approved by
the UN General Assembly, in July 2022.
Therefore, ‘Zane’s Law’ proposes that the following measures be adopted into legislation
by the Government, to prioritise the protection and safety of people and planet, and the
human right to a healthy environment. The legislation if passed would likely include:
1. Each relevant Local Authority must keep a full, regularly updated Register of
Land that may be contaminated within their boundary.
2. The Environment Agency must keep a full, public 'National Register of
Contaminated Land' to be regularly updated by information from Local
Authorities.
3. All above mentioned Registers of Land must be accessible and available for
inspection by the General Public.
4. Relevant Local Authorities must inspect any land registered that may be
contaminated and must fully remediate or enforce remediation of any land which
poses harm to public safety, or which pollutes controlled waters*.
5. Relevant Local Authorities must be responsible for inspecting previously closed
landfill sites and fully remediating them or enforcing their remediation when they
pose a risk of significant harm to people or controlled waters.
6. The Government must take full responsibility for providing the necessary funds
for Local Authorities to meet these new requirements, following the ‘polluter pays’
principle: to recover costs as appropriate where those responsible for the
pollution can be identified.
These measures are not all in place currently and would requirement significant investment
and full funding from the Government to be implemented. These must take account of other
statutory requirements (such as data protection provisions).
Motion
This Council therefore resolves:To write to the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Health, and the Secretary of State
for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to express the Council’s support for new
legislation on contaminated land based on the proposed principles of ‘Zane’s Law’, to
request that these ministers support Baroness Natalie Bennett, by all possible means, in
her efforts to advance ‘Zane’s Law’ through the House of Lords, and that the Government
provides all necessary funds for Local Authorities and others to meet the requirements of
any new legislation.
* Controlled waters are groundwater or surface water intended for human consumption.
