As Adscene has published a front page article about the leak directing people here for further information I have copied the post that did I when the Isle of Thanet Gazette published an article about it. I still haven’t had any satisfactory answers to the important I questions raised from the council.
I sent a letter to the Gazette, based on the post below, which they published this week with a response from the environment agency. The environment agency failed to answer the important questions below too, I have labelled them X1, X2 and X3, the only assurance that they did make is that it isn’t coming out of our taps now.
How dangerous is Cyclohexanone? The affects of exposure to this chemical are thought to cause neurological damage, damage to unborn children, altered immune system function, adverse effects on the respiratory system and affect the sensory system.
How much of the chemical would be dangerous? If you have to work in a contaminated environment in industry, you would have to wear a chemical protection suit and breathing apparatus where the concentration of the chemical exceeds 20 parts per million.
How much was spilt? No one really knows they have been extracting it from the chalk under Westwood since 2007 and have so far recovered about 500 tons of the chemical from the water pumped out of the chalk.
X1 Has it got into our drinking water, water used for crop irrigation and washing or water used for industry? No one really seems to know the complete answer to this one, most of the water used in Thanet is pumped from the porous chalk underground, as the leak went undetected for nearly 30 years and as there seems to be little regulation of private boreholes, it’s a bit of a grey area.
X2 Is the vapour coming out of the ground? I have asked the council and some of the local politicians, but haven’t yet received an answer
X3 Have there been any surveys of the health of the people living and working in the effected area because of the spillage? Once again I have asked the council and some of the local politicians, but haven’t yet received an answer.
What is this information based on?
The freedom of information request response from the environment agency click here to read
The International Labour Organization, part of the UN that produces regulatory information for member states click here to read
Scorecard the web's most popular resource for information about pollution problems and toxic chemicals click here to read
The British Geographical survey’s internal report on the Thanet underground water reservoir click here to read
News, Local history and Thanet issues from Michael's Bookshop in Ramsgate see www.michaelsbookshop.com I publish over 200 books about the history of this area click here to look at them.
Saturday 1 November 2008
7 comments:
Comments, since I started writing this blog in 2007 the way the internet works has changed a lot, comments and dialogue here were once viable in an open and anonymous sense. Now if you comment here I will only allow the comment if it seems to make sense and be related to what the post is about. I link the majority of my posts to the main local Facebook groups and to my Facebook account, “Michael Child” I guess the main Ramsgate Facebook group is We Love Ramsgate. For the most part the comments and dialogue related to the posts here goes on there. As for the rest of it, well this blog handles images better than Facebook, which is why I don’t post directly to my Facebook account, although if I take a lot of photos I am so lazy that I paste them directly from my camera card to my bookshop website and put a link on this blog.
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You're famous now Michael.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the answers to some of the questions might be a combo of "whoops, no" and "don't know". Have you any particular plans for seeking more information?
shame you obviously do not have a real life
ReplyDeleteMatt I it certainly doesn’t look too good, I find that the fact that they want to put China Gateway, a very densely developed industrial estate adjacent to our main drinking water bore hole quite incredible.
ReplyDeleteThe EAs response in the Gazette very much confirmed that this sort of spillage goes unreported.
All the usual sort of things complaint to council, Local Government Ombudsman, Freedom of Information but only as a last resort. I am trying with some success to get the council to release information voluntarily and to cooperate more over public safety issues.
14.39 Thanks for those kind words, with a retail business (shop and online) a publishing business and children I probably don’t need what you imagine one to be.
but michael, concentrate on your business, kids and so. that would be much more rewarding
ReplyDeleteHey, stop having a go at michael, I may not agree with him, but he has an absolute right to say and worry about what he wants.
ReplyDelete14.39 16.30 so much more convenient if you give yourself a nickname.
ReplyDeleteI do see making sure major issues of public safety are addressed properly as concentrating on family and business.
Thanks Ken, I suspect many of the anonymous bloggers come round to that point of view as they get to know our internet selves and I think this whole spillage thing has taken a few people off their normal kilter making for some strange comments. Developmental Toxicant, Immunotoxicant, Neurotoxicant, skin or Sense Organ Toxic and now our Toxicant, it’s all a bit of a shock really.
Well done Michael.
ReplyDeleteBoth our daughters were born whilst we lived at Westwood in the 1970s.
You are pushing the contamination history in the detail now.
I have received a letter from TDC assuring me they are dealing with my further FOI requests which are:
(1) about a Chief Executive caution to a cllr for running a mail intercept at TDC (at the time Sericol were in touch with TDC and only three cllrs appeared to get to know about the Sericol leak and they were misled). The cllr allegedly cautioned was Cllr Maison then an employee of Sericol
(2) Details of an appeal against loss of employment by a senior TDC officer who allegedly clamed he had been targetted by certain tory cllrs because he had assisted police (possibly Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch) with inquiries into IRA supportive right wing group based in Thanet.
(3) Incidents at Thor Chemicals in which TDC yielded lead agency to govt depts
And with Environment Agency, bearing in mind the Sericol problem was installation pipework fault not detected for thirty years, request whether they will investigate the Pfizer Development and determine if the site pipe and vessel welds failed to meet original contractual standards. If so what implications over time would that have on risk of environmental contamination.
(It may be that Pfizer have a time limited interest in operating that plant in Thanet for example, I don't know)
I just got back from riding the mountain bike around a lake and protected woodland here. The dog ran alongside on the cycle lead. When loose the dog went for a good old swim in the lake. (Made me shiver just to watch).
Now I am off down the garden to my gym. Half hour on treadmill. Workout a bit on the heavy bag. Then a bit of multigym. Some outrigger situps and outrigger side sits ups (specialist situps for lung illness). Then I will switch my steam room on and after a cool down from the work out I will have a nice old steam and stick some heat around me old joints and some steam into the old lungs.
If you ever get to do research on Thanet characters of the past. Stan Edwards who ran Margate Boys Club. Ex Desert rat who was also regimental PTI. But for Stan I would never have got into weightlifting for rehab (after serious illness in 1972/73) and the benefits I gained (fending off osteoporosis side effects of prescribed cortisone being the most important I am now above average bone density)
When Stan died Thanet lost a tall tree.
It is because of Stan I got a real life.
I try to repay. My winning a Welsh powerlifting title is not repaying what Stran did for me. Repaying is trying to help other people whilst not expecting them to like me or thank me.
anon 1439 what a sad individual you are. I will pray for you.
You have a life of freedom because of Stan's generation and you have a safe environment because of people like Michael Child.