Michael Sheen investigates toxic chemical waste legacy in new BBC documentary

Welsh actor Michael Sheen is collaborating with the BBC on a two-part documentary titled ‘Buried’, which investigates the long-term legacy of toxic chemical waste dumping across the United Kingdom and the United States.

The series features the work of Reverend Paul Cawthorne, an environmental campaigner who spent two decades tracking industrial dumping sites. Investigations revealed ‘dangerously elevated levels’ of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in nine out of ten sites studied. The documentary examines the impact of Monsanto, a chemical company that produced PCBs in locations such as Newport, Wales, and Ruabon, near Chirk, before waste disposal regulations tightened in 1974.

Sheen’s investigation also follows the claims of the late farming consultant Douglas Gowan, who alleged that decades of toxic dumping had poisoned communities in Wales. The documentary traces these environmental concerns from sites like Brofiscin Quarry and Ty Llwyd in the UK to Anniston, Alabama, where Monsanto faced legal action from residents over similar chemical contamination.