Rockmount silt store: Bid put forward to make site permanent

The Department of Infrastructure now wants to leave the material undisturbed

Revised plans have been put forward to convert a temporary silt store in the west of the Isle of Man into a permanent facility.

The site at Rockmount is adjacent to a government-owned quarry on Poortown Road in German.

It was created by the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) in 2015 to store material dredged from Peel Harbour.

A further 37,000 tonnes of waste, which is contaminated with lead and cadmium, will not be stored at the site.

The temporary storage facility was initially granted permission for five years

First submitted in July 2020, the plans have been revised after advice from the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture.

Changes include the re-profiling of the outside embankment to increase stability, the installation of boreholes to allow long-term monitoring of the site, and the inclusion of a permanent cap over the material.

A spokesman for the DOI said no further silt would be added to the site.

A permanent site for material dredged from the harbour after 2015, which is currently being stored in a temporary lagoon, is still being considered.