Rob Edwards

Concern over contamination from chemical weapons plants in Scotland

from Sunday Herald, 31 July 2011

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is facing demands from politicians, experts and environmentalists to come clean about contamination from former chemical weapons plants in Scotland.

An internal MoD briefing has revealed that sites near Beith in North Ayrshire and near Callander in Stirling have been under investigation for possible risks to human health and the environment. The sites were previously used to make, store and dispose of chemical warfare agents.

Though the MoD insists that the sites are safe, critics are concerned about the dangers of lingering contamination. They are demanding more information about the MoD’s investigations, and urging complete openness with local communities.

Stan Blackley, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, warned that the MoD’s information machine was “toxic” and couldn’t be trusted. “We need more than just assurances that there is no risk to public health at these sites, particularly given the toxic nature of what went on at them in the past,” he told the Sunday Herald.

“Until independent scientific verification is obtained and released stating that these sites are safe and pose no risk, it would be foolish for anyone to do anything other than treat what we're being told with a big pinch of salt, and avoid them like the plague.”

Former chemical weapons sites investigated for contamination

from The Guardian, 25 July 2011

The Ministry of Defence has investigated 14 former chemical weapons factories and stores across the UK for contamination, according to an official briefing seen by the Guardian.

Tens of thousands of tonnes of mustard gas, phosgene and other lethal chemicals have been made, stored, burned and dumped at sites in England, Wales and Scotland since the first world war. Some areas are still fenced off to protect the public today.

After a four-year investigation of the sites considered potentially hazardous – named Project Cleansweep – it has concluded that there is "no indication of significant risk to public health or environment" from the sites.

That has been questioned, however, by one expert, who pointed out that there was still no scientific proof that all harmful traces of the weapons have been removed, particularly after they were burnt.

Prof Alastair Hay, an expert on chemical weapons and who is a professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds and an official adviser to the Health and Safety Executive, argued that more sampling might still be needed at the sites. Some areas should be kept secure as a failsafe because mustard gas can be very persistent in the environment, he warned.

Revealed: the errors that plague Scotland’s pollution protection regime

from Sunday Herald, 24 July 2011

A government database meant to ensure that people and the environment are not poisoned by pollution is so riddled with flaws that it is unfit for purpose, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

An investigation has uncovered an alarming litany of major errors in official figures of toxic emissions from Scotland’s industrial plants. Some emissions thousands or even millions of times too high – which, if true, would have presaged environmental disasters – have gone unnoticed on the official record for a year or more.

Experts point out that the government figures are so unreliable that they could also conceal massive under-estimates of hazardous pollution by companies. This, they say, undermines public trust in Scotland’s entire pollution protection regime.

Politicians and environmental groups, shocked by the mistakes that have been admitted, are this weekend demanding that the Scottish Pollution Release Inventory, run for the government by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), must be reviewed and overhauled.

“Questions have to be asked about why so many errors have been made in reporting discharges but were not noticed,” said Sarah Boyack MSP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and a former environment minister.

“The levels are eye watering and should surely have prompted proper checks before now. Sepa is our environmental guardian so for no one to notice that companies’ figures for dangerous chemicals were out by a factor of 1,000 or more is simply not acceptable.”

Emails reveal why report on radiation risks of nuclear power was delayed

Exclusive, 4 July 2011

The publication of a long-awaited and fiercely-disputed report on the radiation risks of nuclear power stations was accelerated but then delayed at the insistence of the government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), internal emails reveal.

DECC initially insisted that the Department of Health (DoH) publish the report as soon as possible to help combat a court challenge on nuclear power. The government was being sued by an anti-nuclear activist for failing to take account of radiation risks.

The report was about the incidence of childhood leukaemias around nuclear power stations, and had been drawn up by the DoH’s Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE). It was prompted by German government studies that had found elevated levels of the disease around nuclear plants in Germany.

On 10 March 2011 Peter McDonald, from DECC’s Office for Nuclear Development emailed health officials urging publication. “It is in no one’s interest that the COMARE’s latest report becomes an issue in any court proceedings particularly as some have tried to characterise the perceived delay in publication as some form of government conspiracy because the findings are politically inconvenient,” he wrote.

“In the interests of transparency, the best possible thing is that the report is published as soon as possible and that, if anything, greater urgency is needed precisely because of the pending court action.”

Councils fail to meet targets to recycle waste

from The Herald, 04 July 2011

Scotland's largest cities are failing to meet the Government’s target for recycling waste and the country is now lagging behind England and Wales, according to official new figures.

Half of Scotland’s councils – including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Highland – are falling short of the green goal and their poor performance has been condemned by environmental groups.

Local authorities recycled or composted an average of 37.8% of municipal waste in 2010. This missed the SNP Government’s national target of 40% for the year, and means that Scotland is now trailing behind the rest of the UK and could fail to reach its much-vaunted goal of “zero waste”.

“It is shocking that so many local authorities are falling such a long way short of meeting the 40% target,” said Dr Dan Barlow, head of policy with WWF Scotland.

“If we are to achieve our zero waste aspirations the government must ensure that those falling behind up their game. Stepping up recycling and reuse rates and cutting the amount of waste we produce are essential if we are to reduce our global footprint.”

The Scottish government set a series of targets to boost recycling in 2008, aiming to achieve 40% in 2010, 50% in 2013 and 70% in 2025. In 2009, when the environment secretary, Richard Lochhead, launched his plan for a “zero waste Scotland”, he stressed that “we need to reach 40 per cent by the end of 2010”.

Call for Chris Huhne to resign over Fukushima emails

from The Guardian, 01 July 2011

A prominent Liberal Democrat has called for Chris Huhne to resign immediately as energy and climate change secretary after emails were released detailing his officials' efforts to co-ordinate a PR response to the Fukushima disaster with the nuclear industry.

Civil servants in the energy and business departments were apparently trying to minimise the impact of the disaster on public support for nuclear power.

Andy Myles, the party's former chief executive in Scotland, said: "This deliberate and - sadly - very effective attempt to 'calm' the reporting of the true story of Fukushima is a terrible betrayal of liberal values."

He added: "In my view it is not acceptable that a Liberal Democrat cabinet minister presides over a department deeply involved in a blatant conspiracy designed to manipulate the truth in order to protect corporate interests".