A coalition of campaigners, trade unions, lawyers and politicians will descend on Westminster this week to demand urgent legislative reform to address the growing threat posed by toxic landfill sites and contaminated water across the UK.
The Zane’s Law Summit, taking place at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday (June 11), will bring together representatives from over 20 communities affected by toxic land – many reporting severe health problems, environmental degradation and, in some cases, fatalities.
Central to the summit is a proposed piece of legislation dubbed Zane’s Law, named after seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola, who died in 2014 when floodwater carried deadly hydrogen cyanide gas from a nearby landfill into the basement of his home in Chertsey, Surrey. His father, Kye, was left paralysed by the same incident.
Despite the presence of high hydrogen cyanide levels detected by emergency services and a pre-existing 2010 report warning of an “unacceptable risk” of migrating gases from the site capable of causing “serious injury and death,” the landfill has still not been properly tested, campaigners say.
TOXIC TOWN
Des Collins, the solicitor who represented victims of the Corby toxic waste scandal – recently dramatised in the Netflix series Toxic Town – will be among the key speakers, alongside Baroness Natalie Bennett and senior representatives from the TUC, Fire Brigades Union, Unison, Unite, and other major unions. The summit will also feature testimony from affected families and local campaigners.
Zane’s Law calls for mandatory public disclosure of risks at historic landfill sites, clearer accountability for remediation, and tougher oversight of contaminated land — a long-ignored issue made more urgent by increasing flood events linked to climate change.
GROSSLY INADEQUATE
Baroness Bennett, who will chair the summit, says: “UK regulations on contaminated land are grossly inadequate. With more frequent floods and rising sea levels, the dangers are growing. Zane’s Law proposes clear, practical steps to address this crisis – action that was acknowledged in 1990 but later diluted under pressure from housebuilders.”
The Fire Brigades Union, which has backed the proposed legislation, warned of a “serious and growing threat” to health, safety, and the environment.
PROTECTING LIVES
Steve Wright, the union’s general secretary, adds: “With the climate emergency fuelling floods, the government cannot ignore the rising risk. Zane’s Law is urgently needed to protect lives.”
Zane’s parents, Kye and Nicole Gbangbola, have led the campaign since their son’s death and first proposed the law at COP26 in 2021. “Britain should be leading on environmental safety. Instead, our legislation is dangerously outdated,” they said ahead of the summit. “We need Zane’s Law now.”
The call for reform has garnered cross-party political support, including from Environment Secretary Steve Reed MP, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, and the London Assembly. Motions backing Zane’s Law have been passed by several local authorities.
With growing public concern, high-profile legal support, and deepening climate-related risks, pressure is mounting on the incoming Labour government to act — and finally bring clarity, accountability and safety to the thousands of communities living near historic waste sites.
