HS2 loses vast quantity of ‘highly polluting’ clay into chalk aquifer

By Tom Lowe2021-09-15T09:07:00

Scheme being carried out in Chilterns

HS2 has admitted losing a huge quantity of a potentially highly polluting substance into a chalk aquifer during the construction of a ventilation shaft for a tunnel on the high-speed rail link. The railway gave reassurances earlier this year that leaks would be prevented.

Europe’s largest infrastructure project lost 1,600m² of bentonite slurry - enough to fill 48 shipping containers - into an “unexpected fissure” at the Chalfont St Peter shaft site late last year. Align, a joint venture comprising Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick, which is the main contractor on the site, has produced a report on the incident.

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