The Scottish Environment Protection Agency's new expert group on Dalgety Bay has recommended immediate short-term monitoring to detect significant public health risks, closure of part of the beach until monthly removal of radioactive particles can be arranged and further efforts to determine the extent of contamination around the Bay.
The group was set up in December (BB, December 2011) following recent discoveries of significantly higher activity particles than hitherto and Ministry of Defence resistance to full-scale remediation.
Its first meeting, at the Dalgety Bay Sailing Club, heard from SEPA and the MoD and expressed concern at the number and activity of recent finds and the apparent inadequacy of current work to detect particles which pose a health risk.
"We recommend that an immediate short term monitoring programme is adopted at Dalgety Bay to detect and remove particles present, together with a revision to the permanent signs," said acting chairman Alex Elliott.
"We have also recommended that monitoring should ensure that sources which have an activity of greater than 20,000Bq of radium are removed from the top 10cm of sediment on a monthly basis; this work must be undertaken by a competent contractor."
The group said that, in the interim, the public should not enter the area of the beach which is currently clearly demarcated.
"Further efforts should also be made to determine the terrestrial extent of the contamination which should include investigation of all areas of made ground at Dalgety Bay," said Prof Elliott.
