Angus Fire is required to carry out periodic monitoring of the groundwater and soil on the site under the terms of its environmental permit.

ENDS has obtained the data from this monitoring, which took place before the firm stopped testing PFAS foams on site in 2022. 

It reveals that testing of the groundwater conducted in 2008 recorded a PFAS sum of 1,199,000 ng/l - a reading that ENDS has been told is the highest ever publicly recorded in the UK. 

As it stands, the UK has no set standard for acceptable total PFAS levels in groundwater, but for comparison, in the EU proposals for a new standard level of 500 ng/l in groundwater have been debated in recent years.

Angus Fire told ENDS in a statement that it has “never manufactured foam containing PFOS and ceased manufacturing foam that may have contained trace amounts of PFOA in 2016”.

However, the monitoring data obtained by ENDS has revealed extremely high readings of both substances in the site’s groundwater.
To put these numbers in context, the environmental quality standard (EQS) for PFOS - which is set to protect waters from the harmful effects of contaminants - is 0.65 ng/l. That’s 55,538 times lower than that recorded on the Angus Fire site. 

While there is currently no EQS for PFOA, the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) states that acceptable levels for PFOS and PFOA in drinking water is 100 ng/l.

Two years later in 2010, sampling of the site’s groundwater recorded 47,200 ng/l of total PFAS, including 1,300 ng/l of PFOA and 2,600 ng/l of PFOS.While these figures show a significant decrease from 2008’s results, an EA site summary report from August 2023 states that “care needs to be taken when interpreting” them, as “it may not be possible to draw conclusions from a single data set”. 

It adds that “whilst there is a notable decrease in PFOS and PFOA from 2008 to 2010, this does not continue from 2010 to 2018”.

Indeed, fast forward to 2018, and the data ENDS has obtained shows that 63,400 ng/l of total PFAS was detected - an increase of 34% from 2010.  The total sum recorded in 2018 included 2,500 ng/l of PFOA and 10,700 ng/l of PFOS.

These samples were all taken from the groundwater near Angus Fire’s wastewater lagoons, which have historically contained contaminated run-off created during the testing of PFAS fightfighting foams. The firm stopped sending contaminated water to these lagoons in 2020 - but the pre-2020 groundwater test results that ENDS has obtained reveal some staggeringly high figures.A sample of just one type of PFAS, taken in 2008, revealed that the lagoon contained 737,500 ng/l of 6:2 FtS. This is a type of PFAS that is often used as an alternative to PFOS, but according to the land re-use charity CL:AIRE it can transform in the environment to generate PFHxA, a chemical which is set to be banned in the EU.

Dr Patrick Byrne, reader in hydrology and environmental pollution at Liverpool John Moores University, told ENDS that these are the “highest concentrations of total PFAS that I have come across in any environment in England”.

Angus Fire is currently permitted by United Utilities to discharge this contaminated water directly to the Bentham sewage treatment works. 

The permit does not mention PFAS, but it does describe the effluent as “waste water derived from the manufacture and testing of firefighting foam and hose”. 

It also states that the following should be eliminated before discharge: “Any substances which either alone or in combination with each other or with any other matter lawfully present in the said sewers would be likely to; cause a nuisance or produce flammable, harmful or toxic vapours either in the sewers or at the sewage works of the company.”It goes on to state that such substances include any which could “affect prejudicially any watercourse, estuary or coastal water into which the treated effluent will eventually be discharged”.

Inspection documents obtained by ENDS have revealed that during heavy rainfall, these lagoons have had a history of overtopping, spilling contaminated water onto the ground. Indeed, two soil samples taken from near the lagoons in 2018 were found to have staggeringly high PFOS concentrations of 359,000 ng/kg and 124,000 ng/kg. The off-site control sample had a PFOS concentration of 300 ng/kg. The results of Angus Fire’s foam production is something most Bentham locals have seen for themselves, and although the firm has described it as an “unlikely scenario”, multiple residents on Duke Street have told ENDS anecdotes about the foam from the test site making its way onto the street in years gone by.

Emma Edwards, who from 1997 - 2016 lived on Duke Street, tells me that her children used to play in the foam which we now know was likely contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals. 

“On a foamy day the foam would come through the mesh fence and onto the lane”, she tells me. But until now, she had no idea that this foam was potentially toxic. “Nobody had any warnings or any idea as far as I’m aware”, she tells me over the phone. “It’s a bit of a shock really”.

Angus Fire, however, said that it has not received or been made aware of any evidence of its historical firefighting foams being found on Duke Street. 

Considering factors including the distance between its site and the street, and the elevation of Duke Street in relation to the lagoons, it said it considers the scenario unlikely.

Minutes from an August 2023 meeting between the EA, Angus Fire, and Lancaster City Council show that it was noted that PFAS foams used to “foam up the river” and “may still discharge directly to a stream”. 

The Lairgill Beck - a small stream that feeds into the river Wenning - passes within approximately 50 metres of the lagoons.

In this context, the minutes show that discussion turned to PFAS contamination of what ENDS understands to be the United Utilities sewer in Bentham, which Angus Fire is permitted to discharge to. 

“Contaminated sewage treatment works - doesn’t break down so now into the [river] Lune”, they state, referring to the river that runs through Lancaster - and is fed by the river Wenning.

Angus Fire is not the only potential source of PFAS contamination in the Bentham sewage treatment works. In a statement, the company said that as the sewer and the river Lune “both receive waste water from a multitude of different sources, many different sectors and industries”, that “any level of PFAS detected could have come from any of those sources, not least pesticides from adjacent fields”.

However, in response to concerns about contamination from Angus Fire, separate documents obtained by ENDS - and unpacked in the second part of this investigation - have revealed that last year, Lancaster City Council, which neighbours North Yorkshire Council where Bentham is located, launched a “district-wide assessment” of all private drinking water supplies within its remit. 

PFAS in public drinking supplies is tested for by water companies, but private water supplies are not governed in the same way, with local authorities in charge of regulating them. As Lancaster City Council does not currently test for PFAS under the Private Water Regulations, a council officer noted in an email to the EA that they therefore “consider all existing private water supply risk assessments in our district may be inadequate in this particular regard”. 

North Yorkshire Council also told ENDS that it does not routinely test for PFAS in private drinking water supplies.

Marshall is licensed to abstract from two separate boreholes, one of which is just 450 metres from the Angus Fire site. On the advice of the EA, in April 2024, North Yorkshire Council conducted testing of the drinking water on this caravan park. 

The results came back showing a total PFAS sum of <165ng/l.

“As you may be aware we have sampled Riverside Caravan Park, Bentham for PFAS, the results of which are attached and show the levels all to be below the limits which is positive news”, the council said to the EA.

But the council said it is also considering sampling the borehole at the Golf Club, which is upstream from Angus Fire, “just to confirm there are no issues”. 

In an email to the caravan park, the council said that “whilst the recent sample taken from Riverside for PFAS was below the limits, it has been suggested by my manager and the EA, that we should continue to monitor the supply going forward on an annual basis”.

Commenting, a spokesperson from Riverside Caravan Park said that drinking water at the site is “tested regularly by North Yorkshire Council, and the supply has never failed to be found anything other than safe for consumption, and falls well under the statutory requirements”. 

“We also work closely with North Yorkshire Council's environmental health department to regularly monitor and confirm that our water purity levels comply with all legal guidelines. The wellbeing of our staff and holiday guests will always remain our family business’s main priority,” they added.North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director for environment, Karl Battersby, said that the council “tested the private drinking water supply at Riverside Caravan Park, High Bentham, earlier this year after we were notified by the EA of PFAS contamination”.

He added that the water supply was tested for a range of PFAS substances and that “levels for each of these were found to be well below 0.01µg (micrograms) per litre, the ‘low risk’ threshold set out by the DWI”.“However, residents should be assured that we will continue to test the water supply on an annual basis,” he said.

To understand the potential pathway from the factory to drinking water supplies, we have to back up a little. 

On its site, Angus Fire has its own borehole which it has been licensed to abstract water from since the 1970s. 

In a letter to the firm, obtained by ENDS, the EA said that testing of this borehole in October 2022 recorded a PFAS sum of 3,560 ng/l and 210 ng/l of PFOS. 

The borehole has been sampled on five separate occasions and the highest PFAS result recorded was found in the most recent testing for the chemicals.

According to Angus Fire, its own borehole is now capped off and has never been used for drinking water. 

Indeed, the public drinking water supply for Bentham comes from a reservoir more than nine miles away from the town, the firm points out. 

However, in the EA documents seen by ENDS, it is stated that this borehole on the firm’s site does penetrate directly to the Millstone Grit aquifer, a class one aquifer that provides drinking water to other private abstractors in the local area. 

In a site summary document, the EA wrote that the PFAS detected in this borehole “indicates that either the groundwater within the Millstone Grit aquifer is contaminated with PFAS, or potentially this borehole is acting as a pathway for contaminated groundwater to reach the deeper aquifer”. 

In February 2023, the EA wrote to the local council, which at that time was Craven District Council, to warn that it had detected “PFAS substances in raw water associated with private groundwater supplies”. 

“You may wish to consider the risk to private water abstractions in the proximity of this borehole”, the letter states, which was also obtained by ENDS via FOI request. 

There are three known private abstraction licences within Bentham. 

One is associated with the Bentham trout farm, which is licensed to abstract directly from the river Wenning. And two are held by Thomas S Marshall - a councillor at Bentham Town Council, and owner of the Bentham golf course and the Riverside Caravan Park - with the latter sitting on the banks of the river Wenning.

While lower than the DWI’s acceptable levels for PFAS, responding to these figures, Dr Shubhi Sharma from CHEM Trust said that the levels of PFAS recorded on the caravan site’s drinking water are nevertheless “very concerning”. 

“The assumed safe threshold for PFAS has been getting lower and lower as we understand more about the harmful nature of these chemicals”, she said. For the DWI’s part, the authority told ENDS that it does not hold any raw water quality data on PFAS levels in Bentham and there have been “no water quality events reported to the Inspectorate in relation to potential PFAS pollution incidences in Bentham”.

Commenting, a DWI spokesperson said that while there is no statutory standard for PFAS in public or private water supplies, as regulators local authorities “are required to carry out risk assessments of some private supplies to determine if they are wholesome”. 

Regarding the test results recorded at Riverside Caravan Park, the DWI told ENDS that although they are below the body’s guideline value agreed with the UK Health and Safety Authority, the results “indicate the presence of some PFAS in the groundwater, and therefore it is important that any private supplies in the vicinity are monitored, and risk assessments carried out to understand the level of risk and take action to protect consumers where necessary”.

Yorkshire Water - which supplies public drinking water to the majority of people in Bentham - told ENDS that Angus Fire is not located in the direct catchment for the raw water, which after treatment, is supplied to its customers, and that it is also not in the catchment for any of the other water treatment sources, “hence, any potential spills of chemicals at this location would not impact on drinking water”. 

United Utilities told ENDS it does not hold any information with regards to PFAS pollution of water in Bentham, and said it has no raw water catchments in this area.

A spokesperson for the water company added that wastewater treatment processes “are not designed to remove PFAS and there are currently no permit standards for PFAS in treated wastewater”.

“We are supporting the UK Water Industry Research Chemicals Investigations Programme to better understand the sources of PFAS and how they are entering wastewater networks as well as watercourses. These substances are widely used in society and a national plan will be needed to reduce their domestic and commercial use,” they said.ENDS understands that the Environment Agency is “currently reviewing” the environmental permit at Angus Fire in relation to PFAS.

Exposure to certain PFAS has been linked to a range of illnesses, from fertility issues to cancer. 

Recent research has suggested that PFOA - which this investigation has found in high quantities in the environment in Bentham - is endocrine-disrupting. 

The chemical has also been classified as a class one carcinogenic chemical by the World Health Organization, and has been banned globally since 2019. 

A Risk Management Options Analysis on PFAS published last year by the Health and Safety Executive said that “workers involved in making or processing PFAS and PFAS-containing materials are more likely to be exposed than the general population”. 

The document notes that workers can be exposed to PFAS by inhaling them, getting them on their skin, and swallowing them. 

“Detailed monitoring results for levels of PFAS measured in the blood of production and manufacturing workers at several perfluoroalkyl production and manufacturing facilities are available [...] and showed that the serum PFOA, PFOS, and PFHxS levels in workers were frequently 100 - 1,000 times higher than in the general population”, the document states. 

Without detailed monitoring and extensive blood sampling, it is not possible to say for sure what impact - if any - the pollution from Angus Fire’s PFAS production has had on residents in Bentham, and employees at the Angus Fire factory. 

However, some residents in Bentham have responded with concern to ENDS’ findings, particularly with regard to the potential impact on their health.

Through contacts in the local area, I was put in touch with one older lady, who has lived in Bentham for more than 50 years and has for many years suspected that the smoke produced by Angus Fire when it is testing its foams was the cause of her breast cancer. 

She is eager to hear about my research, believing she may have some information to offer, but cautioning that she would like to remain anonymous due to concerns over the fallout that could come from speaking out about a company that is still a big employer in Bentham - a refrain that would become familiar as I spoke to more locals. “It’s funny that we’re speaking today”, she says, because “Angus Fire has already released black smoke on three separate occasions”. Angus Fire ignites “a limited number of small fires” on its site to test the efficacy of its firefighting foams. “We have the approval of regulatory authorities, but we try to keep these fires to the minimum,” the firm told ENDS. But the smoke has been a blight on the local community for years, with every resident I speak to giving me their own anecdote of the nuisance it has caused, ranging from not being able to hang their washing up to dry outside, to genuine concerns it has contributed to their declining health.Indeed, in one of the documents obtained by ENDS, which was produced by the EA in August 2023, it is noted that “fugitive releases to air from the fire testing area are likely to have occurred” and that there is a “potential for these to have contained PFAS historically”. 

“When it comes to breast cancer you don’t know where it started, but what I do know is that my diagnosis was quite unusual - I had two cancers, one in each breast”, my source says. 

“I had always just thought this was all bad luck but I’ve lived a very pure life, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and I was a very strict vegetarian for many years”, she adds. 

When she had an appointment at the local hospital, she says that her nurse told her that the staff had just been “talking amongst themselves and noted that they seem to have a lot of cancers on my road”. She says it was then that alarm bells started ringing for her. “It was a throwaway remark, but this was when the red light went on for me”, she says.

A separate individual, who worked at a local health surgery but who also asked to remain anonymous, told ENDS that there was talk among other staff about the numbers of deaths from cancers in Bentham, and that there were “mutterings about the fact it could be from the factory”. 

However, they said there was never any data on this and this information did not come from the GPs - it was just “hearsay”.

A publicly available analysis of health data does appear to indicate that Bentham has a higher rate of cancer than surrounding areas. 

However, without a thorough research study by an epidemiologist, it is not possible to isolate the cause of this.

After the treatment for my contact’s two cancers had finished, and she was in recovery, she wanted to do everything possible to stay healthy.

I had an oestrogen respondent cancer, so I have to avoid anything with elevated oestrogen”, she explains.

 “When I found this out, at first I thought I’d been neglecting my body. I was thinking, have I been using the wrong face cream, or eating too much dairy”. 

But she went on to find out how endocrine disruptors - such as those linked to PFOA and other PFAS - can interfere with human hormones, and have been linked to several cancers, including those of the thyroid, breast, and prostate. 

When I tell her about the chemicals Angus Fire was using in its foams for years, and the contamination in the environment where she lives, she was audibly horrified. 

“It’s appalling, absolutely appalling”, she says, “it’s Dickensian even”. 

But it “all makes sense”, she adds. “I’ve lived here, right next to Angus Fire, all my life. I moved here when I was 25. And I can name 10 people with breast cancer just on my road. 

And that’s just one sort of cancer, there’s many more”. 

The line went silent for a moment. 

“I’m just worrying about my family now. My son’s mother-in-law lives on the top of the road and she also has breast cancer. 

That’s our granddaughter with two grandmothers with breast cancer. 

I mean, I’m 75 now, I’ve had a good life, but there are children, and this thing is bioaccumulative, I just keep thinking about them”. 

“Just because a company provides employment, it doesn’t give it a right to potentially jeopardise people's lives - it’s not right.

”Commenting on ENDS’ investigation, a spokesperson for Angus Fire said: “Angus Fire manufactures a wide range of fire-fighting products that protect life. 

The company has not breached any environmental permits in relation to PFAS. 

We continue to work closely with the Environment Agency, comply fully with EU regulations and UK laws, and remain committed to these standards."The company confirmed that it no longer manufactures or tests any PFAS-containing foam products at Bentham, “or anywhere else in the world”.

“The business is focused on developing environmentally-friendly products, including JetFoam, the world’s first ever fluorine-free firefighting foam capable of extinguishing aviation fuels,” said the spokesperson, adding that Angus Fire has “played a significant role in our local community in North Yorkshire for 100 years, and it’s hugely important for us to maintain our positive relationships with the people of Bentham, and to play a responsible role in village life”. 

“As Bentham’s biggest employer, we actively address all concerns related to local environmental impact and compliance. We are committed to continuous improvement in our operations, transparency, and working collaboratively with regulatory bodies to protect public health and the environment.”

The original article is here on Ends Website, behind a pay wall.