Rob Edwards

Edinburgh University pulls funding from lethal drone firm

from The Guardian, 29 September 2013

A leading UK university is ending its £1.2 million investment in a defence company that makes components for lethal US drones because it says the business is not “socially responsible”.

The University of Edinburgh has bowed to pressure from students and campaign groups and is withdrawing all funding from Ultra Electronics. The company, headquartered at Greenford in Middlesex, makes navigation controls for the US fleet of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles.

Armed with Hellfire missiles, they are sent on covert “targeted killing” missions against suspected terrorist cells in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. But according to the Bureau for Investigative Journalism at City University in London, over 430 strikes since 2002 have killed at least 428 civilians, of whom 173 were children.

Human rights lawyers argue that the attacks breach international law because they take place in countries with which the US is not at war. The strikes were declared to be war crimes by the Peshawar High Court in Pakistan in May, and are under investigation by the United Nations (UN).

Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA), the student environmental group, People and Planet, and the human rights charity, Reprieve, launched a campaign for the university to disinvest in June. A response under freedom of information law from the university had revealed an investment of £ 1,244,672 in Ultra Electronics at the end of 2012.

The corkscrew massacre: how seals and porpoises are being cruelly killed by propellers

from Sunday Herald, 29 September 2013

The deaths are cruel, violent and gruesome, and they are threatening the survival of some of Scotland’s rarest wildlife.

Seals and porpoises around the coast are being killed in large numbers because they get trapped between ships’ propellers and their covers, according to the latest scientific research for the Scottish government. The animals die from distinctive “corkscrew” cuts spiralling around their bodies.

Scientists have concluded that the slaughter could have contributed to dramatic declines in harbour seal populations on the east coast and is “unsustainable”. But they are still investigating exactly which offshore industries might be to blame.

This weekend a powerful coalition of ten environmental and animal welfare groups is demanding an end to the killing. They are calling on ministers to ban the use of the propellers in new offshore developments, and to restrict their use by ships in areas where seals are at risk.

“Hundreds of seals and porpoises have died needless and horrific deaths all around our coasts,” said Sarah Dolman, Northeast Atlantic programme manager for Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

“The future is especially bleak for declining harbour seals where, despite European protection, some local populations are facing extinction. On the ground action to prevent any more seals and porpoises from dying cannot wait.”

The corkscrew seal massacre: trying to track down the culprits

for Sunday Herald, 29 September 2013

Female seals may be lured to a horrible death because they mistake the sound of ships’ propellers for a male seal saying he wants to mate.

That is one of the theories under investigation by scientists trying to solve Scotland’s seal murder mystery. They are testing the reactions of seals to the noises made by propellers.

In the last couple of years, investigators at the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews have found out what has been killing large numbers of seals and porpoises with “corkscrew” injuries. But they can’t yet name the actual killers.

“The wounds are caused by some sort of blade rotating within a duct,” said the unit’s senior research scientist, Dr Dave Thompson. “The only mechanisms that fit this description and are found at all the locations are ducted propellers on ships.”

He pointed out that ducted propellers like Kort Nozzles and Azimuth pod drives were now commonly fitted to a wide range of vessels such as tugs, work boats, barges, mobile rigs and fishing boats. “Such vessels are widely used in coastal and offshore engineering works, port activities and fishing so it isn’t possible to identify any particular industry,” he said.

Dirty Dumfries waste incinerator lodges appeal against closure

24 September 2013

Scotland's dirtiest waste incinerator is bidding to keep burning. The Dumfries company, Scotgen, has appealed against a move by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) to revoke its operating licence.

Sepa announced on 27 August that it intended to prevent the plant from running because of "persistent non-compliance with the requirements of the permit." The energy-from-waste facility at Dargavel in Dumfries has breached pollution limits hundreds of times and last month suffered a major fire.

According to Sepa, Scotgen also failed to comply with an legal enforcement notice requiring 800 tonnes of partially burnt waste to be removed from the plant so that it didn't stink and attract rats.

Sepa confirmed today that Scotgen had lodged an appeal with Scottish ministers on 20 September against the notice revoking its licence. "This means that the revocation notice will be in abeyance until final determination or withdrawal of the appeal," said Sepa's spokesman.

"We await information from Scottish ministers as to the format, time and venue of the appeal. As far as we are aware Scotgen (Dumfries) Ltd is still operating under an intent to go into administration."

Revealed: Scotland's 267 dirty polluters

from Sunday Herald, 22 September 2013

A record number of industrial sites across Scotland have been officially condemned for their “poor” or “very poor” performances in failing to control pollution.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has named and shamed 267 waste dumps, recycling plants, fish farms, sewage works and a host of other facilities for breaching pollution rules. Contamination has leaked, spilled and belched into the environment at unauthorised levels, sometimes threatening public health and wildlife.

Amongst the polluters outed by Sepa are the public water company, Scottish Water, Glasgow City Council, the famous Scottish food producer, Baxters, and the big waste firms Shanks and Sita. Five well-known whisky distilleries have also been criticised, along with two crematoria in Glasgow. 

Many of the polluting plants are repeat offenders, and have been labelled as poor performers for years. One of the worst offenders, the Dargavel waste incinerator in Dumfries, had its operating licence revoked by Sepa earlier this month after it failed to clean up a stinking 800-tonne mess left by a major fire.

The new “compliance assessments” from Sepa have prompted environmentalists to demand tougher action against polluters, including prosecutions. Industry bodies, however, stress that they are working hard to overcome any problems. 

Sepa rated 47 industrial sites as “very poor” and 220 as “poor” for 2012. This exceeds the 46 very poor and 170 poor sites in 2011 because Sepa increased the number of operations it assessed.

Quay safety fear triggers ban on launch of nuclear submarine

from The Guardian, 04 September 2013

The UK government’s nuclear safety watchdog has blocked the launch of the Royal Navy’s newest reactor-driven submarine because of a risk a quay could collapse.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has barred the launch of HMS Artful, the third of Britain’s troubled Astute-class hunter-killer submarines, because of doubts about the “structural integrity” of the wet dock quay at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria.

The submarine’s manufacturer, BAE Systems, had previously planned the launch this year, but now says it will be “early next year”. The company insists, however, that the problem with the quay will not cause any further delays.

ONR raised its concerns in its latest quarterly report on the Barrow shipyard covering April to June 2013. It has ordered BAE Systems as the site licensee to investigate and report back on whether the quay is safe to use.

“ONR placed a hold point on the launch of the next Astute class submarine which will only be removed once the licensee can address and justify the continued use of the aging wet dock quay,” the report said.

The day Britain’s nuclear warheads got a shock

04 September 2013

The exact time is unknown, the precise place is uncertain and what really happened remains unclear. But at least we now know that Britain’s Trident nuclear warheads had a shock.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been forced by the UK Information Commissioner to release a few more details about one of the most serious crashes in the history of nuclear-armed submarines. There is much, however, that the ministry is still keeping secret.

Sometime in the night between 3 and 4 February 2009, somewhere in Atlantic Ocean, the Royal Navy’s HMS Vanguard collided with the French navy’s FNS Le Triomphant. Both boats usually carry nuclear weapons.

Ministers were privately briefed on the crash investigation by MoD officials on 23 March 2009. “The shock received and logged by the strategic weapons system in this incident were within normal tolerable limits,” they were told.

“As a department, we should be consistent and robust that this was an unfortunate and highly unlikely accident involving two vessels operating totally independently as they conducted national deterrent patrols.”

Row over ‘suppressed’ study suggesting rats were killed by GM food

from Sunday Herald, 01 September 2013

A scientific study suggesting that genetically modified (GM) food killed rats has been “suppressed” because of a successful lobbying operation by multinational biotech corporations, say environmental campaigners.

The study, carried out by a team of researchers under Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini at the University of Caen in northern France, ran into an immediate barrage of condemnation when it was published. As a result, it has been largely ignored by the media, and is mostly unknown in the UK.

But campaign groups are now seeking to redress that by launching a series of public meetings across the UK starring Professor Seralini. He is a molecular biologist and president of the scientific board of the Committee of Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering.

The first event, in what been dubbed “GM Health Risk Week”, is due to take place in Edinburgh University on Monday. Then on Tuesday Seralini is giving a briefing in the Scottish Parliament.

Seralini’s study was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology, in September last year. It reported the results of feeding groups of laboratory rats GM maize or its associated herbicide, both made by the US company, Monsanto.

The study concluded that over two years the rats suffered increased rates of organ damage, tumours and premature death. The researchers blamed GM organisms and the herbicide, concluding that both “must be evaluated very carefully by long term studies to measure their potential toxic effects.”

Organic food slump ends as sales start to rise again

from Sunday Herald, 01 September 2013 

It’s boom time again for organic food in Scotland. After four years of decline, new figures suggest that shoppers are now starting to buy more pesticide-free groceries.

According to the Soil Association, which certifies organic food, sales in Scotland have risen nearly six per cent over the last year. There has been a smaller four per cent rise in the rest of the UK.

The increase is attributed to growing disillusionment with conventionally produced food in the wake of the horsemeat scandal, which saw two men arrested last week. Improving economic conditions, better marketing and the arrival of popular new stores like Whole Foods Market from the US have also helped.

The latest figures, released today, show that over 12 weeks to 9 June, spending on organic food in Scotland was £13.4 million. This compares to spending of £12.7 million in the same period last year.

Spending in the rest of the UK for the same period has risen from £179.9 million in 2012 to £187.4 million in 2013. This follows four years in which the total annual UK spending on organic food fell 22% from a peak in 2008.