'Elevated' levels of arsenic, lead and chemicals found at Penwortham Mills site where Lidl and 301 houses set to be built

The building of a new Lidl supermarket and 301 new homes in Penwortham looks to be moving forward.

South Ribble Borough Council’s approved plans for the discount retailer and a total of 301 homes on the site of the former Vernon Carus mill and Sumpter Horse site in October 2022.

Click here for more details on what was approved

Now ground investigations have been made public, with reports submitted to South Ribble Borough Council.

What do the reports say?

In a Geo-Environmental Assessment for both the mill and pub site, it states that “elevated concentrations of lead, arsenic and selected PAH compounds (a class of chemicals that occur naturally in coal, crude oil, and gasoline) have been recorded in the localised, isolated areas of shallow Made Ground at the Sumpter Horse Pub Site and the former mill area”.

However, there is little concern. The report continues: “Given the localised nature of any exceedances, the majority of the Site is not considered to be contaminated, and no remediated is required.”

Human health

The report adds: “The main exposure pathway is ingestion and consumption of home grown produce and therefore, the pollutant linkage to future residents can be broken by the installation of a clean cover system in areas where Made Ground is present.”

It says that topsoil across phase one and two is deemed suitable for re-use as part of the proposed development, but that groundworkers and sub-surface maintenance workers should be made aware of the possibility of encountering contaminated soils - in particular the potential presence of asbestos.

A separate survey looking more closely at the supermarket site states that “none of the analytes tested were detected at concentrations that exceeded the human health GAC protective of on-site workers.”

The new Lidl

The discount retailer’s arrival in the area is expected to generate up to 30 jobs. The firm had originally wanted to open 18 hours a day - between 5am and 11pm - seven days a week, but agreed to a compromise with South Ribble Borough Council officials of 7am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and on bank holidays, while the store will trade from 10am to 7pm on Sundays. The outlet will have a 124-space car park.