Asda has admitted that there is no quick fix to the problems emanating from one of its sites at Bramley in Surrey, with the clean-up process likely to take a year.
According to The Telegraph, at a packed village meeting in Bramley last week, Asda’s chairman Lord Stuart Rose, said: “I know there’s a problem here. But I want to just say, on behalf of Asda and certainly on behalf of the board and myself, that we are absolutely committed to getting this sorted out.”
He said the company would do everything possible to speed up the clean-up process and also added that Asda would pay compensation to local businesses that have been affected by the disruption caused.
Lord Rose also asked those at the meeting whether the Asda Express should reopen next month. After only a few people said ‘yes’, he confirmed that it won’t reopen yet.
Speaking to The Telegraph after the meeting, he said he understood villagers’ frustrations but added that they were depriving themselves of the ability to buy groceries and petrol.
The fuel leak occurred before Asda took ownership of the site and has been put down to the fact that a pipe underneath the forecourt had not been repaired properly.
According to Surrey Live, Will Evans from Asda’s environmental consultants EPS Strategies, told villagers how 50 boreholes have been dug in the village centre to monitor fuel in the ground and extract it. He said he could not confirm the total size of the leak but did say that 500,000 litres of water have been treated by the on-site ‘pump and treat’ system.
Also present at the meeting were Michael Salter-Church, director of external affairs at Openreach (as internet services have been affected across the village), Tess Fayers, a Thames Water operations director (as drinking water was affected), Jeremy Hunt MP (whose constituency includes Bramley) and Paul Follows, leader of Waverley council.
The Telegraph reported that at the end of the meeting, Hunt secured agreement from Waverley Borough Council, Asda, Thames Water and Openreach to work together on publishing a clean-up plan that people could freely access. Another village meeting is scheduled for September.
Following the meeting, an Asda spokesperson told Forecourt Trader: “Asda is fully committed to resolving the situation we inherited at Bramley. Since we took ownership of the site, we have been transparent in setting out the steps to remediation, both for the site itself and the wider village.
“Our chairman Lord Stuart Rose attended a village hall meeting to reaffirm Asda’s commitment and meet with those individuals and businesses impacted. We look forward to attending again in September, where we will hold further discussions and provide another update to local residents.”
