A JUDGE has ruled that chemicals which leaked during the construction of the M74 extension have "the potential to create a risk to human health".

Lord Tyre made the statement in a judgement on the case brought by petrol giant Esso against Scottish ministers over claims its Glasgow property is being contaminated by chemicals from land used for the M74 extension.

Esso wants ministers to take action to prevent further escapes at their site in West Street site and is seeking damages of £2.8 million.

Esso's land, south of the River Clyde, is the site of a former filling station.

In 2004 the Scottish Government acquired neighbouring land to complete the M74 project - linking the end of the motorway at Cambuslang with the M8 motorway west of the Kingston Bridge.

This site - between Paterson Street, Gloucester Street and West Street - had been used for the manufacture, storage and distribution of liquid chemicals since 1841.

A group of contractors acting as Interlink M74 JV constructed the new five-mile stretch of motorway - a section of which this has now been built on the former chemical plant, referred to as the Albion site.

Esso claims that as a result of the motorway development, hazardous chemicals present on the Albion site were released into the groundwater system of it's garage site.

The case has been heard at the court of session and, in the latest published judgement, Lord Tyre said he accepted the opinion of geologists "that the carrying out of demolition and site preparation operations on the Albion site was likely to disturb the contaminants within that site...and that such disturbance was likely to lead to migration of those contaminants through the pathway of groundwater to neighbouring land, unless specific measures were taken to prevent such migration".

He added that he found "the presence of these compounds in land has the potential to create a risk to human health and, in particular, that their presence in soil and groundwater beneath the Esso site represents at least a theoretical risk to human health".

The judge added that the operations carried out at the Albion site should be properly categorised as "inherently hazardous".

Scottish Ministers say they asked competent independent contractors to carry out the M74 works and this was agreed by Lord Tyre.

But the judge said that they are not relieved of potential liability for damage to the Esso land because they instructed an independent contractor to take appropriate and adequate precautionary measures.

Lord Tyre has continued the case for discussion of further procedure. He said all questions of expenses are reserved.