IT'S 33 years since radioactive contamination was discovered in Dalgety Bay and it's finally been removed with an assurance given that the foreshore is "absolutely safe".
And the Ministry of Defence official in charge of the clean-up, David Salmond, said he'd be "astounded" if the £15 million remediation works don't prove to be successful.
It means the public will be able to access the beach for the first time since 2011 as the job of removing over 6,500 radioactive particles, some with such a high reading that they were hazardous to health, has been completed.
David Salmond, programme director for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), which is part of the MoD, told the Press: "We've excavated the site to an agreed depth, taken all that material, put it through a scanning system and removed all of the radium contamination that could be found.
"That's been taken away and disposed of at another site and we've put the soil back onto the site with a membrane beneath it and rock armour on top so there's no risk of anything coming through on the landward side.
"So yes, the site is absolutely safe.
"And to prove it the DIO will continue to monitor the beach for up to two years to demonstrate that the works have been successful."
In an interview at the beach, he added: "There hasn't been a job like this before. The whole enterprise has been learning new practices as a result of what we've been doing here.
"Aecom did a brilliant design solution and our contractor, Balfour Beatty, delivered the work brilliantly and safely.
"I'd be astounded if the works aren't successful."
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Although the contamination was discovered in 1990, the problem goes back to the days after World War Two when aircraft were broken up and burned in the 1950s at the nearby Donibristle Airfield, with the resultant ash and clinker dumped along the shore.
To enable pilots and navigators to see their instruments at night, the dials were coated in a luminous paint that contained radium.
This was a time before the dangers of the metal were known.
Professor Paul Dale, unit manager of the radioactive substances team at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), told the Press: "Sepa closed part of the beach in 2010 because it was serious.
"Some of the sources, even if someone had simply touched one of them, would give a radiation burn and if they had ingested one of these sources it would give them significant health effects."
Mr Salmond said: "We took the problem really seriously. Sepa informed the MoD that they were holding us responsible for the contamination.
"The MoD accepted responsibility for the clean-up of the site and we've done that. So it's a fantastic achievement.
"Once the work started they've gone really well and here we are in 2023 and proud to be able to hand the site back to the sailing club and leave them with a better facility.
"The site has been cleaned and opened up again for the local residents to come and enjoy."
Asked if the people of Dalgety Bay were owed an apology, for the contamination and the delay in removing it, Mr Salmond replied: "I don't think it's a question for me to answer.
"What I can say is we've taken responsibility for cleaning up the beach and we've done it brilliantly.
"I'm not looking for a 'thank-you' for that, at the same time we've taken responsibility for something we were asked to do."
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The complex and specialist project saw rock armour replaced around the headland and a replacement slipway installed for Dalgety Bay Sailing Club.
Work was paused between October and April each year to protect over wintering birds. Professor Dale said: "What's happened here is the remediation has removed the contamination from the beach and it's contained any contamination which remained in the ground.
"What that means is the restrictions that we put in place in 2010, as part of the closure of the beach, can now be lifted but we need to verify that it is effective and it is doing the job it's supposed to, so the signs will remain until we have two years of monitoring which shows it's effective."
He continued: "This was an undertaking that's taken over three years, albeit it stopped during the winter months, and it was quite a significant contamination.
"In the area there's a huge amount of concrete, there's the beach cleaning of material to remove the contamination and over 6,500 radioactive particles were removed.
"Similar clean-ups have been done elsewhere but generally inland on areas that were not inundated by the sea.
"This is the first of its kind to be constrained by having a tide that comes in and out twice a day."
The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (Comare) have undertaken a series of reports on Dalgety Bay to see if there's any increase in the cancers they would expect from radiation exposure.
Professor Dale said: "Fortunately at present there hasn't been but they will keep that under surveillance moving forward and it just reinforces the need for the remediation to have happened to prevent such occurrences."
Asked why it had taken so long for the contamination to be removed, he replied: "When it was first found in 1990 the risks and hazards associated with it were quite low.
"It was re-assessed in 2006 and 2008 and the health issues had increased at that point which resulted in the signs being erected, warning people not to remove objects and to wash their hands.
"In 2010 there was a step-change so higher activity sources and the numbers of sources detected increased massively which meant we closed part of the beach.
"This resulted in the action Sepa have taken, there was a need to understand the extent of the contamination, which took a period of years, and to develop an appropriate remediation which has now been delivered."
In a statement, the Minister of State for Defence, Baroness Goldie, said: “It’s great to see Dalgety Bay once again open for communities to enjoy, thanks to the hard work of the Ministry of Defence and our organisations and partners.
"I am very pleased that work to address this long-standing issue has been successful.
“We will continue our monitoring to ensure this beautiful area can be enjoyed safely.”
Fife Council spokesperson, Councillor Altany Craik, said: “I’m so pleased the beach at Dalgety Bay will finally be back in use for the public after such a long time.
"The community has been very patient through all this disruption and I’m delighted that they can finally enjoy the area again."
Local MSP Annabelle Ewing said it was a saga that "could and should have been dealt with decades ago".
She added: “Dalgety Bay is a beautiful place and the potentially dangerous dump of radioactive materials by the MoD was an absolute disgrace, only barely mitigated by a lack of knowledge and understanding at the time."
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