FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Drinking water supply: Mains water is supplied and treated by United Utilities. Contact United Utilities directly for current water quality information.

Context from available data:

• Independent testing detected PFOA at 20,624 ng/L (nanograms per litre) in discharge water from the Hillhouse estate (Dalmijn et al., ES&T 2025)
• For scale comparison: the EU drinking water safety limit is 100 ng/L for 20 PFAS combined — making the discharge concentration around 206 times that benchmark
• Important: These measurements are from industrial discharge water, not treated drinking water supplies. The EU standard applies to water at the tap. Discharge water enters watercourses where it is diluted before any potential abstraction and treatment.

Regulatory position: No public health warning has been issued for drinking water.

Residents with private water supplies (wells, boreholes) may wish to consider testing. PFAS analysis is available through commercial laboratories (costs vary; consult laboratories directly for current pricing).

Current official advice (Food Standards Agency/Wyre Council, as of 5 March 2026):

• Do not eat eggs from poultry kept within 1km of the Hillhouse estate boundary (FSA/Wyre Council, 2 February 2026)
• Occupation Road Allotments closed — the EA concluded this site meets the statutory criteria for formal classification as Contaminated Land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act, based on PFOA found in soil and produce (Wyre Council, 5 March 2026)
• Sandringham Avenue Allotments closed precautionarily, pending soil sampling results (Wyre Council, 5 March 2026)
• Wash and peel home-grown vegetables before eating; consider raised beds with fresh soil for gardens within 1km (new FSA advice, 5 March 2026)
• Wash hands after contact with soil

Soil testing results: PFAS detected in 287 of 291 soil samples (98.6%) in Phase 2 testing. All 25 samples at the first residential property tested (Phase 3, February 2026) exceeded the Dutch benchmark.

On "wash and peel": The EA's Contaminated Land classification was based on PFOA found within vegetables themselves — not only surface soil. PFAS in vegetables is the result of root uptake; plants absorb these chemicals from soil and water during growth. Washing and peeling removes surface soil particles, which do contain PFAS, but cannot remove PFAS already absorbed into plant tissue.

Not currently tested: Milk from local livestock, honey, fish from local waters.

NHS testing: The NHS does not currently offer PFAS blood testing as a routine service. No biomonitoring (blood and urine testing to check for chemicals in the body) programme has been set up for the local population.

Formal position (6 March 2026): Wyre Council formally responded to an FOI request asking why biomonitoring had not been conducted. The council stated that blood testing would be "not appropriate," that results would be "uninterpretable," and that it would cause "additional distress" to residents (WhatDoTheyKnow.com, 6 March 2026).

Three days before this FOI response, the Leader of Wyre Council publicly called for blood tests and a "proper inquiry" into local health (ENDS Report, 3 March 2026). Whether these positions are consistent and which reflects current council policy has not been publicly clarified.

Private testing: Some private laboratories offer PFAS blood analysis (costs vary; consult laboratories directly). Results may be difficult to interpret without population baseline data for comparison.

International context: At comparable sites in Belgium, Netherlands, and the USA, authorities established population biomonitoring programmes. None cited the risk of distress as a reason to withhold testing.

Large scientific studies — where thousands of people's health records are analysed over time — have found links between PFAS exposure and several health conditions. See the Health Information page for details and sources.

Important: These are patterns found across large populations, not individual diagnoses.

Legal context: Property sellers have disclosure obligations regarding known material issues.

Current situation:

• Contamination is documented and publicly reported
• No official property blight designation has been made

Consult a solicitor for advice on specific property matters.

Leigh Day, an environmental law firm, is investigating potential legal action relating to contamination from the Hillhouse estate. Information is available on their website: Leigh Day PFAS page.

This site is not affiliated with Leigh Day and does not provide legal advice.

Site operators:

• ICI (1950s-1999): Original operator. PFOA used as processing aid.
• AGC Chemicals Europe (1999-present): Current operator. Used PFOA until 2012, now uses EEA-NH4 (a fluorochemical used as a replacement for PFOA in manufacturing).
• Other tenants: The Hillhouse Technology Enterprise Zone hosts multiple industrial operators.

Regulatory oversight:

• Environment Agency: Issues permits for discharges
• Wyre Council: Local authority, leading multi-agency investigation

What we know:

• AGC Chemicals Europe has disclosed significant data through their Environment Agency permits, including historical PFOA discharge figures covering both the ICI and AGC eras
• PFOA and EEA-NH4 discharges documented in AGC's permits can be attributed to the fluoropolymer production operations

Open questions:

• PFOS detected in local eggs — AGC's public position is that they have not used or manufactured PFOS [source to be confirmed]. Source of PFOS not identified.
• Soil contamination may reflect contributions from multiple sources including legacy ICI operations, current operations, chemicals that settled from the air over decades, and shared estate infrastructure
• Comprehensive source attribution would require investigation that has not been conducted

This site distinguishes between data from operator disclosures and contamination where the source is not identified.

Current actions (as of March 2026):

• Wyre Council multi-agency soil testing programme (Phases 1–2 complete, Phase 3 ongoing)
• Occupation Road Allotments formally classified as Contaminated Land (Part 2A) — 5 March 2026
• Sandringham Avenue Allotments closed precautionarily — 5 March 2026
• Food Standards Agency egg and produce advisory in effect
• UK Government PFAS Plan published (February 2026)

Not currently in place: Biomonitoring for residents, ambient air monitoring, drinking water PFAS testing, requirement to cease EEA-NH4 discharge, residential remediation programme.

For full details including the timeline of how official guidance has changed since 2024, see What To Do.

See the European Site Comparison for data on regulatory responses at comparable sites including 3M Zwijndrecht (Belgium), DuPont Parkersburg (USA), and Chemours Dordrecht (Netherlands).