Cabinet Secretary, I have spoken with a senior spokesperson from Valero regarding the kerosene spillage in Nantycaws, and I was assured, because I asked very much the same questions that have already been asked to you, that immediately upon realising that there was a pressure drop within that pipe—because that's how they knew—they notified NRW and other agencies therein. And I think it's only right and fair at this point, before I move on, to recognise the hard work that has been done by those staff—continually done by the staff—outside their normal working hours so that they can do their best to protect the public from all the other issues that I think were fairly stated by Adam Price. And I think it's also fair to mention the emergency services, because the fire authority also turned up and responded as quickly and efficiently as they could. So, I want to put those things on the record.

I did drive through here, actually, on Sunday, and I have to tell you that it was a three-quarter-of-an-hour journey from one end of Carmarthen to getting up the other end, and that was on a Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. So, you know, it is probably wise to say that, whilst it might be on a weekend, nonetheless, there will be significant inconvenience. I probably unwisely chose to travel at 4 o’clock, not thinking, because I wasn’t shopping, that maybe the shops were closing at the same time, so I suppose it’s fair to add that. But, nonetheless, that’s how long it took me to go from one end of Carmarthen to get back onto the A48.

So, anyway, moving on, I understand that there were four sites of pollution and that now a total of three of those have been cleared, but one is still being recovered. I did ask the question, of course, about downstream and any effect on the Towy and was assured, at this point, that that is an unlikely situation. Nonetheless, while that is the case, and I recognise that people might be impacted for a few days by having to go around the road, what I’m really concerned about is that impact on that watercourse and how we intend to monitor any effects within that watercourse that have happened—it has destroyed it, let’s be clear: if you poison a river, you have destroyed it—and how it is going to be monitored and brought back to life.

I was elected just after the Sea Empress; I know how devastating these things are, and I’m not suggesting that this is on that scale at all. I will thank, however, Valero for being honest when I asked questions and also, as far as I know, they’ve been on site and they’ve apologised profusely for the pollution, which was unmistakeable, because I smelled it myself on Sunday, in the air. At the moment, as far as I’m led to believe and others are led to believe, the fumes were not toxic. But some families did choose to move from there.

So, I think, at this stage, what could be done perhaps has been done, but, in moving forward, I think what is important for me to know, as somebody representing that area, is that the monitoring of that site will be diligent, will be long term, and will be reported back to us.