The Thanet Cesspit: Pegwell

Now the truth comes out.

Let's ignore 2 747 cargo flights over central Ramsgate yesterday at rooftop height: tonnes of aviation fuel vapour straight on the heads of the local population.

And noise and air monitoiringf removed by TDC and Infratil. Never even the much-promised mobile monitors.

So the only monitoring will be via the lungs of Thanet's population - with the highest lung cancer rates in Kent.

But no, not that.

The Environment Agency and the Stour River - or Pegwell Bay as the estuary is known.

Now officially one of the top 5 most polluted rivers in Britain - according to the EU and the Environment Agency itself.

Clearly the outfall pipe from Manston airport for aviation fuel and chemicals straight into Pegwell Bay won't help.

Nor the open sumps through the road system that drain directly into the Bay.

Nor the whole airport built on the drinking water supply - and chalk - the most polluted in the South East.

Thor mercury rains the other way despite being closed-but-not-closed-for-20-years by the EA and drains through the Nash housing estate next to Hornby and BandQ and into Margate and Broadstairs - wherever the chalk allows the water to flow.

Probably into Tivoli Brook too.

So then from Margate round to Sandwich Thanet will have some of the most serious and contaminated water pollution in Britian.

Stilll no sign of the toxin reports from the EA - I suppose in their offices in Allingham it's less of a problem. The Environment Information Regualtions doesn't apply to the Environment Agency apparaently. And becuase the public want copies of the public information there needs to be a charge for the public apparently.

Or some such cobblers to cover up the mess.

Ask for them yourself: andrew.pearce@environment-agency.gov.uk - the Thanet head of the EA

Or: brian.white@thanet.gov.uk - the Head of Environment/Planning/Regeneration/changemyjobtitlequick

Or: bennh@parliament.uk - Hilary Benn the Environment Minister who visited Thanet Earth recently - let's hope the water at Thanet Earth has been treated or he'll be down with a nasty tummy bug.

What have our politicians and civil servants been doing on our behalf?

You may remember both Roger Gale and Steve Ladyman confirming with the EA that neither the airport nor factories like Thor were a problem and everything was terrific.

While the £2Billion KCC funded by £40M of Thanet council tax each year isn't quite sure where Thor even Thanet is.

Thanet. Drink the beer. Run a tap and have a bath or do the washing up. Swim in the sea. Eat the fish. Breathe the fresh air.

What a cesspit our civil servants and politicans have created on our behalf.

Pegwell. One of the top 5 polluted rivers in Britain.

And there's even the Medway thrown in there too.

The other 3 are: Lea/Thames, Thames and Kennet/Thames.

So London's Thames is polluted - I can understand that. But Medway and Pegwell?

Failed. Failed. Failed.

Time for Change.