22/09/11…..Relief for Thame resident as contaminated land battle settled

A THAME woman has spoken of her relief as her decades-long battle to have her property decontaminated is won, as the diggers move in to begin the work.

Sam Gee lives in one of four properties built in the early 1970s on the site of the old Thame Gas holder in Wellington Street, Thame, in the house originally owned by her parents. Suspicions began around 1975 when residents noticed a strange smell. Plants didn?t seem to grow properly in the strange, black soil and most alarming of all, they noticed that some of the stones in the ground in their gardens were blue – apparently a sign of the presence of cyanide.

Mother of three, Sam, told Thamenews.Net that she had been wrangling with the developer, the landowner and South Oxfordshire District Council for many years over who was responsible for dealing with the contamination and who should pay.

?The most distressing aspect about the whole thing,? said Sam, ? has been the lack of information and communication from SODC throughout. At one point they just told us to wash our hands! Further along the line, they did eventually promise to keep me informed but that fizzled out until I was told I would have to pay for the work.?

SODC has now appointed contractors to dig out the whole of the area around the four properties, carefully removing and taking away all the affected soil to a depth of about a metre and a half. They will then lay down a special membrane to prevent any further seepage up into the soil and infill with new top soil.

?Although I have lost so many childhood memories with my dad?s plants and his workshop etc getting trashed, and little things like my daughter?s baby footprints in the concrete taken out, and the graves of our dead pets over the years having to be disturbed, I am looking forward to being able to have a proper garden again and not having to worry about my children playing outside in the garden.?

Because of the contamination, the four properties affected have been blighted by a bad reputation, but now, as Sam said, ?We can genuinely say that only have we got the safest garden in Thame, we?ve probably got the the safest garden in England!?

PHOTO: Sam Gee and two of her children spot a patch of black, contaminated soil in what was their front garden