ARSENIC contamination at Gunnislake playing field is seriously worrying Calstock Parish Council.
It is to ask the South West Rural Development Agency for money to tackle the problem. Recently a resident's dog died on the King George V playing field from suspected arsenic poisoning.
Caradon District Council has said that the level of arsenic shown in its latest tests is not high enough to harm humans. But Ian Kirk, chairman of the parish council, said at its meeting last week the level was way above that which was allowed and quite sufficient to poison a dog. In some parts of the field it was as much as eight times the recommended maximum.
A letter from Caradon to the parish council described its tests, he said, and 'goes on to explain why they are not going to do anything.' Caradon said that warning signs were the only practical solution. 'So you had better start teaching your dogs to read,' said Mr Kirk.
He was 'pretty disgusted' with Caradon's response, which implied that Calstock should do something about it by improving its drainage, he said.
Afterwards, the council clerk Julia Massey said she would be writing to Carol Wilson, an SWRDA official at Plymouth, to see if funding could be made available in the light of the seriousness of the contamination.
There has been industrial pollution in the Tamar Valley for centuries and the Gunnislake playing field is made out of mining waste. There is also a lot of natural arsenic in Cornwall which may be affecting the soil more than the residue of industry.