Thanet’s polluted water: MP’s misinformation and failure
The Environment Agency is clearly struggling with the problems of their own making:
"The Environment Agency last week revealed a 20-year plan to improve the water quality, which it says is “lower than we would hope.”
The groundwater, which forms part of the drinking water supply, contains a variety of nitrates, pesticides and solvents, although the agency insisted there was “absolutely no risk” to human health.
Experts said that while previous industrial accidents had exacerbated the problem, much of the contamination was caused by local people disposing of harmful substances like white spirit or engine oil incorrectly."
No mention of the real problems:
# Thor mercury: no clean-up in 20 years since the site supposedly closed in 1988
# Sericol: 500 tonnes of industrial solvent lost to the water table: the equivalent of about 4,000 oil barrels of chemicals
# Infratil: deliberately allowing the drainage of aviation fuel and chemicals into Pegwell Bay a UNESCO site: and the Environment Agency warned them to stop 3 years ago
Manston itself: the whole airport – and the ChinaGate plans – built on top of the aquifer
# 90% of the aquifers contaminated with diuron weedkiller – as previously used by TDC in error -as detailed by the Geological Society
You may recall the sudden seminar meeting announced in Ashford a week or so ago. Maybe it was actually a press conference.
Clearly for the MP’s and Environment Agency to suggest that pouring paint thinners down the sink is a bad thing is absolutely correct.
But it clearly pales into insignificance compared to the above massive industrial pollutants – over years and decades.
A deckchairs on the Titanic piece of misinformation and misdirection.
As is suggestions of a 20 year clean-up given the inaction to date.
No threat to human health? Then why is water already piped in from West Kent and why has the Thor aquifer spread beyond the factory site?
The time when Messrs Gale and Ladyman were in power as elected by the public to safeguard and improve the area.
For Roger Gale to suggest that there is no problems harks back to his statements at the time of the Thor fire in 2006.
Remember that Thor Africa was closed down in 1994 after poisoning dozens of its workers and the water table.
While for Steve Ladyman to suggest that the airport is well-managed for drainage and any other aspects including the 106 is clearly nonsense as he well knows and has bene documented wiht the various breaches at Manston.
Sadly we have the EA struggling to deflect criticism and the 2 MP’s glossing over the massive problems.
Fortunately Corporater Manslaughter and a failure of duty of care applies to the EA and the other organisations including our two failed MP’s
From my conversations with Andrew Pearce at EA it’s clear that there is no credible clean-up at Thor, and no provision of summary status on Sericol and Manston.
Paul Carter as of Monday had still not heard back form the KCC civil servants regarding Thor.
We have what can only be described as disastrous management of our aquifers and political nobbling to allow unrestricted industrial development knowing the very real dangers.
But these can be demonstrated.
Solvent poisonings affect the very young and the very elderly the worst.
Will Roger Gale not share a weekly foaming pint of Thor water – or Sericol or Infratil - Harvey Bradshaw of the EA on BBCTV? A few weeks of that and elderly Roger may be feeling a little green round the gills.
Where are the EIR/FOI requested reports from Thor of clean-up status, volumes of mercury, clean-up to date etc? Clearly there are none and allowing Ecologia to recruit Thor’s own Health and Safety person into the clean-up crew is dubious at best.
Infratil of course are notorious for breaching all safety guidelines and regulations under the 106 with TDC’s direct support and the indirect support of KCC and Messrs Gale and Ladyman.
It’s worth noting too that the massive ChinaGate development had the support of both MP’s - and timely £25,000 developer donations - with not a shred of information as to what the development actually was nor how the drainage would work.
The lives of 250,000 citizens are being deliberately endangered by the failures of the Environment Agency and our MP’s.
I await the EIR information on Thor, Manston and Sericol: it’s gone very quiet on the reports. As you’d expect if nothing had been done.
Feel free to contact Andrew Pearce at EA, Addington and Andrew.pearce@environment-agency.gov.uk
Tel: 0870 506506
Simply request the clean-up reports from Thor, Sericol and Manston/Infratil under EIR.
No credible exemptions are allowed and the documents, emails, reports, notes must be provided within 20 days in paper or electronic format as you prefer.
No reports? What have they been doing?
The same question could be asked of our 2 failed MP’s.
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