POTENTIAL contamination issues at a Chester petrol station are being tackled prior to the refurbishment of the site.

Workers have drilled 30m into the bedrock at the former Shell Abbots Park Service Station in Liverpool Road, Chester, prior to installing wells so the affected area can be ‘flushed out’ over several months.

This precedes the erection of a new forecourt area, underground tanks, steel-framed canopy and surfacing, following the closure of the previous petrol station in late 2011.

Shell’s lease expires in 2015 and it is a condition that it returns the site as an active filling station upon surrender of the lease.

Documents accompanying a planning application to Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC) reveal questions were raised about the condition of the original underground fuel installation ‘in terms of age and suitability’ during negotiations between Shell and the landlord.

Peter Stanworth from Jennings Design Limited, acting on behalf of Shell, wrote: “As part of these investigations it is thought that the site may have a potential contamination problem and it is the intention to carry out intrusive investigations in the near future which obviously means the site needs to be closed.

“Subject to the results of the investigations there may be a need to carry out remedial works to ‘clean’ the site.”

Shell says the new fuel storage and pipeline system will offer a better lifespan and be double skinned to offer improved protection from leakage and will include an in-built monitoring system for the early detection of leaks.

Shell says that because the remediation process is ‘relatively long’ it has undertaken a noise assessment out of consideration for neighbours.