More than 100,000 tonnes of contaminated waste containing asbestos and traces of heavy metals is safer left where it is and shouldn’t be dug up, a public meeting heard.

An expert told 80 villagers at Pollington Village Hall plans to dig out the waste to allow Middleton Quarry to be used again as a tip would "mobilise" contaminants close to drinking water boreholes.

It comes after Matrix Aggregates submitted hybrid plans to East Riding Council, with the final stage proposing building 74 houses.

The north-eastern corner of the quarry – now a local wildlife site - still contains some 127,000 tonnes of waste, which was illegally dumped there over a decade ago.

More than 80 people turned out to the meeting at Pollington Village Hall to discuss concerns

The villager, who worked in the water treatment industry and has examined the technical documents with the application, said: "My real concern is for the ground water.

"The methods they are proposing to dig it out are more likely to mobilise the contaminants and dump it into the groundwater.

"Potentially it's like a balloon of contaminated water you prick it and it's out into the water.

"Hopefully Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency will knock this on the head."

The site has been undisturbed for years and has become a haven for wildlife. Edwin Stocks who was born in the village said: "It has now been developed into a nature reserve where there are crested newts, stoats, rabbits, there's birds and everything. It should be left as it is."

He said the applicant had dug test pits and found a significant number of asbestos sheets. Water samples indicated hydrocarbons, probably from tarmac, and little pockets of high acidity, which could be a bag of cement.

There was also evidence of heavy metals, lead, mercury and arsenic "but at very low levels".

He said asbestos was an inert mineral and wasn't a problem "as long as you don't dig it up". The EA and YW had rejected a proposal to dig it out in 2014 as the risk was "far greater than leaving it where it is,"

He said: "All the testing of groundwater underneath suggests it's not going anywhere. If you dig it out it will become mobilised and it is very difficult to stop it sinking into the groundwater."

The proposals envisage finally building homes on the tip - but the meeting heard that quarrying and then landfilling 800,000 tonnes of waste could take "at least 10 years probably more"

The plans envisage removing 270,000 tonnes of sand and gravel to create a void and sealing the quarry floor, before trucking in 800,000 tonnes of "inert" commercial, demolition and excavation waste. This would add 90 to 160 trucks to Heck and Pollington Lane.

He said the EA is due to issue a decision “any time now” on an environmental permit application by Tetron Contracts Ltd to dump 944,400 tonnes of inert landfill in the quarry over four years.

The meeting heard from parish council chairman Ken Wilson that there were concerns over the level of monitoring over the removal of contaminated material, with the plans saying this will be done by the banksman.

He added: "Will it affect the water supply to our community? I am sure there are many other questions this poses."

One villager was worried that the concerns of their “tiny village” would be ignored. But councillor Caroline Fox assured them they would be heard: “People power does work – I’ve seen it work.”

The deadline for objections is January 25.

Illegally dumped waste safer left where it is to avoid contaminating drinking water villagers told