Introduction to the Hoole Bank site

The Hoole Bank tar lagoon and surrounding land is located at the eastern edge of the village of Hoole Bank, 4km north-east of Chester. The site was formerly a brickworks, which ceased operations in the 1950s.

The brickworks’ quarry was subsequently used for the disposal of tar, clay and lime until the end of the 1960s, with permission from the then-landowner.

This practice of waste disposal was lawful at the time. Since then, environmental standards have improved, but the quarry still contains significant volumes of industrial waste.

Lubricants UK Limited (LUKL), which is now a bp company, has been identified by the Environment Agency as the appropriate party to undertake the safe remediation of the Hoole Bank tar lagoon site.

LUKL, working with Arcadis and in consultation with the Environment Agency, is developing a plan to remediate the Hoole Bank tar lagoon and surrounding land. The main objective of the remediation work is to develop a long-term management solution for the tar lagoon and surrounding land to reduce or remove the risk of environmental impacts from the site.