A clean-up operation for toxic substances found near the Grenfell Tower site must be carried out urgently, a committee of MPs urged today.
Hazardous chemicals were found in a flat 90m away from the tower, 17 months after the fatal fire.
Today chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh MP, wrote to the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council asking for action to be taken.
Ms Creagh said: “There’s an urgent need for the council to carry out a deep clean of ventilation systems where this material might be trapped.”
She added: “It is astonishing that nearly two years after the fire at Grenfell, there are still questions to be asked about a clean-up to deal with the threat of contamination from toxic chemicals.
“Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council must provide answers to evidence, discovered by scientists, of hazardous material in homes around the Grenfell site.”
She added: “It comes after Professor Anna Stec, an expert in fire chemistry and toxicity. told the Environmental Audit Committee in April that “chronic toxicants” were found in soil at levels 160 times higher than a typical London street.
Asthma-inducing hydrocyanide was also found in a home 90m from the tower block, according to her research.
Council leader Elizabeth Campbell said: “The Government and Public Health England have assured us that they believe the risk remains low. Testing and sampling is underway – we are told that scientists will need time to analyse results and develop a programme that is both comprehensive and gives the community the necessary reassurances.”
A Government spokesperson has previously said enhanced medical tests are available for anyone concerned through their GP, adding: “Professor Stec is part of an independent group of scientists overseeing this work and her findings will inform the checks we are conducting.”
A total of 72 people died as a result of the fire on June 14 2017.
Read More
MORE ABOUT