SPECIALISTS have been called in to search for harmful materials at a former First World War chemical site in Middlewich that is now earmarked as a waste transfer station.

The demolition phase on the former Ideal Standard site has now been completed by Wates Construction, which have been appointed by Cheshire East Council.

During the First World War the site was commandeered by the Ministry of Defence to produce phosgene and chlorine for chemical weapons purposes.

Cheshire East Council’s (CEC) strategic planning board approved the development in September. Ansa, which are owned by CEC, will operate the site.

Shane Benson, Wates Construction project manager: “During those four months we’ve demolished the building and removed everything hazardous off site.

“We’ve managed the risks all the way through, with what was here when we inherited the site.

“What we’re doing now, we’re going round doing core holes to test for these contaminants which people have expressed concern about.

“We’ll go round testing those just to prove there is nothing here because there’s nothing that’s been said that indicated there is definitely something here.”

Wates Construction and CEC have brought in RPS Energy to carry out the 'precautionary' work, which will involve drilling into the ground.

David Denman, Technical Director at RPS Energy, said: “We do this day in day out all over the world. I’ve been doing this for 30 years.

“We follow a very prescriptive, systematic, due diligence process.

“All intrusive works on site there will be specialists from RPS, who are trained in chemical weapons and conventional munitions disposal, monitoring all activities on site at all times.”

Mr Denman said the site is ‘very low risk’ because only the chemicals – not the weapons themselves – are believed to have been produced on the site during the First World War.

He said: “The council went over and above what you would expect of a client.

“We’re now doing a precautionary sample, so we set up the grid in any intrusive areas, we core down, and the guys sample that. And we’re looking here for parts per billion of material.

“If at any time they were spilt or dumped into the ground, they would have long gone. So this is a precautionary approach.”

Cllr Sam Gardner, CEC portfolio holder for open spaces, said a lot of work went into choosing a site to propose building the development.

He said: “The application to build a new waste transfer station in Middlewich went through the due planning process and was approved by the Strategic Planning Board.

“A number of sites across the borough were looked at and the Middlewich site was considered the most suitable due to its central location.”