A fuel depot and filling station occupied the site in South Wales between 1961 and 1997. Together they stored petrol, kerosene, gas oil and diesel. A site assessment was commissioned in 1995, to determine the ground conditions and the potential risks.

The desk study provided the background data, particularly for the site setting (a housing estate and a river), the site history and the probable ground conditions. This was followed by the fieldwork: three boreholes/wells, 19 window sample holes and 16 trial pits. The ground they revealed was 1m of concrete rubble fill, over half a metre of clay, then 3m of sand and gravel. Groundwater was shallow, at 1m to 2m depth.

The laboratory testing showed localised fuel contamination of the ground, mainly at the filling gantry, with lesser concentrations of dissolved fuel in the groundwater.

Discussions were held with the Environment Agency regarding the groundwater. The Agency stipulated river-quality water (their Environmental Quality Standard) at a nominal compliance point 100m from the site. This was successfully demonstrated by testing a series of water samples from the monitoring wells on-site, and by using the Agency's 'P20' computer model to show attenuation with distance. 

A summary report was also prepared for the Planning Authority, to accompany a planning application for residential re-development of the site.