A St Mellons-based soil supplier has helped remove 4,500 tonnes of hazardous waste during the construction work on A465 Heads of the Valley road.

The A465 is recognised in the Welsh Government's National Transport Plan as a strategically important route and forms part of the Trans European Transport Network.

The A465 Section 2 dualling scheme extends for 8.1km from Brynmawr to Gilwern.

The aim is to upgrade the existing road to a dual carriageway to improve the safety of a notoriously dangerous stretch of road and to help stimulate the local economy.

During early ground investigations, it was found that several side roads serving the A465 were constructed with asphalt containing different types of hydrocarbons, known to be a carcinogenic material and hazardous waste.

Neal Soils Suppliers partnered with Costain to remove 4,500 tonnes of hazardous soil and stone from the area between July and October this year.

A spokesman said: "We, as hazardous waste experts, were called in to provide technical expertise for classification and documentation, transport, disposal and recycling calculations.

"The hazardous soil and stone that was removed was impacted with different hydrocarbons so we removed this waste for treatment at our NSSL Soil Treatment Facility."

Hywel Woolf, environmental manager, Costain, said: "We were satisfied that Neal Soils compliance, performance and facility were of a high standard.

"Subsequently we instructed the firm to collect and treat the material from our scheme, with the request that the material is tracked beyond our Duty of Care requirements, going a step further to track the material through treatment and to understand where and how it will be reused.”