I READ your leader article 'Toxic clean-up is long overdue' (May 17) with great interest. However, I should like to point out that there are methods of remediating old gasworks sites, such as the one at Heworth Green, which are safe and do not involve excavating large quantities of contaminated soil and transporting it through urban areas.

We are a York-based company and are the sales and marketing arm of a company called Envirotreat Ltd, which offers an advanced chemical stabilisation process allowing the contaminants to be treated in-situ.

The technology was developed in the UK with funding from the Department of the Environment and Envirotreat has a mobile process licence granted by the Environment Agency to carry out such work.

The process uses highly reactive modified clays which we call E-clays.

We shall be happy to talk to any parties who may be interested in the process and explain the technology and how it could be applied at the Heworth site.

R M Weir,

Director,

Rowe Technology Ltd,

Tower House,

Fishergate, York.

Updated: 10:35 Thursday, May 23, 2002