'Shut danger compost site'

Arsenic contamination is feared

The Deputy of St Mary in Jersey is calling for the Crabbe composting site to be shut down.

Derek Maltwood says news that wood chippings produced at the site may be contaminated with arsenic is horrifying.

Parents in Jersey have been advised to keep their children away from playgrounds and paths covered with wood mulch, after products coming from Crabbe compost site were found to be contaminated with arsenic.

Residents using boreholes in the area of Crabbe have been given access to a different water supply, to make sure they do not get contamination in their drinking water.

Deputy Maltwood says he and others in the parish have long maintained the composting site is in the wrong place.

But he is horrified the site has been apparently mismanaged in this way and has called for it to be closed down.

Jersey's education department has received advice from public health and is looking at whether any of its playgrounds have been affected.