What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

Following hot on the heels of the previous post concerning The former West Midlands County Council Waste Disposal and Pollution Control Committee, comes another revelation from the same meeting 22nd December 1977 at which the Rattlechain site licence was discussed amongst others.

Let’s remind ourselves of the councillors serving on that committee at the time.

This item 8 on the agenda concerns the former West Midlands County Council tip off Sheepwash Lane Tipton. It is a report by the then West Midlands County waste disposal officer K. Harvey. Let’s just read on for now and discuss after……

The proposal is to treat the lagoon which it is stated is polluted and producing methane gas. It is identified as

“a liability to the council.”

The solution offered by the waste disposal officer is to import “calcium phosphate” onto the site. What is of concern and is paramount to this are the subsequent statements concerning an unnamed  source which has been identified being able to be supply it for nothing.

“Large quantities of this chemical are produced as a waste material at a factory nearby and arrangements have been made for this material to be diverted to the site at the request of the county at no cost.”

Though the supplier of the “calcium phosphate” is not named directly, It is quite obvious which company is being cited. Albright and Wilson up to 1974 were still delivering effluent waste sludge to rattlechain lagoon by canal barge. BUT THIS WAS CERTAINLY NOT JUST UNCONTAMINATED CALCIUM PHOSPHATE!!

Indeed calcium phosphate is unlikely to have ever been offloaded as a waste product as in itself it can be used and sold- that is if it is not contaminated with the other toxic crap that Albright and Wilson were making and disposing of- including white phosphorus contaminated material as effluent sludge.

Later Rhodia were to make claims about their waste material and calcium phosphate which we now know to be utter lies from the then site manager. I wonder who typed it out for him though?

Remember also that this agenda item 8 in 1977 was discussed BEFORE the rattlechain site licence had been agreed on- and it had not as yet been formerly approved.

The situation appears to be thus. West Midlands County council had a liability upon them to spend a great sum of money on getting rid of potentially toxic and acidic waste lagoon, at their own tip- the origins of what they allowed to be dumped here being highly questionable. We know residents who have stated that illegal dumping took place here regularly with few questions asked by the site operators.

Albright and Wilson had a liability to dispose of hazardous waste with a slightly alkaline taint, calcium phosphate (albeit contaminated with phosphorus) but were threatened by the prospect of having their main waste tip curtailed by new legislation and a plan developed by the County council to which “alternative disposal methods are likely to involve the company in considerable extra cost.”

Put the case therefore that in order to neutralise costs to both parties, Albright and Wilson’s waste was dumped in return for the withdrawl of condition 30. Is this what happened?  Though some may try to deny it, the incompetence and corruption involved in this possible trade off are clear to see. Dispose of a massive body of contaminated waste BEFORE LICENSING free of charge and at no charge to us and we will extend your tip’s life. A favour for a favour and a boon to both.

“It is hoped that a waste material will be put to a useful purpose in dealing with a serious pollution problem.”

In the hundreds of documents viewed in the course of compiling this website, this comment by Keith Harvey is the single most foolish, incompetent and dramatically ironic statement of all. By 1980 he had apparently died, thus leaving behind an oversight of allowing toxic waste into an area which the public can now access with unknown potential dangers and a toxic waste lagoon that should have had it’s licence ended in the mid 1980’s. THIS MAN WAS INCOMPETENT IN OFFICE AS A WASTE DISPOSAL OFFICER.

There are no further records available to confirm that this mad cap scheme ever materialised or was approved by the then committee in subsequent meetings. The report is merely “noted”.

Of course the site in question was developed into what became Sheepwash Urban park, and now Sheepwash Local Nature Reserve. But what was actually buried here during and after 1977, and what potentially now lurks beneath the pumphouse pool at this former tip site?

The West Midlands county council tip lagoon referred to in the report

SANDWELL COUNCIL IT’S OVER TO YOU……..

WASTE DIVERSION, ONE GOOD TIP DESERVES ANOTHER.

Shhhh. Tonight I’m here to surprise a man of esteemed local importance with my big red book.  He began his glittering political career as a trade unionist, became Mayor of Sandwell and is now an Honorary Alderman. Yes Tonight MARTIN JOHN PRESTIDGE, (LORD LANGLEY),

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

At Trinity Street Towers they have special “friends”. It’s the way it’s always been- there are clear political associations.  One of them over the last 40 years has been one Martin John Prestidge- ex councillor, sometime Mayor of Sandwell and now Alderman Prestidge.

Mr Prestidge likes to detail his extensive local Government dealings and affairs via social media, and so it is possible to piece together his entire life story on the internet- all written by himself. THEY ARE HIS WORDS. We’ve been at this for some time before putting together this special tribute- Firstly he explains his distinguished career- please take note of the timescales as they are important to the life of Rattlechain lagoon- we’ll get to that in a moment. All words are his own, they have just been reordered.

Young Martin in 1963

“I first stood for election as a Councillor as a brash 24 year old in 1967. I stood for the Brandhall Ward of the former Warley Council. Warley had been formed in 1966 as an amalgamation of the former Smethwick County Borough with Oldbury ,a Municipal Borough in Worcestershire and Rowley Regis, a Municiplal Borough in Staffordshire.

We lost every seat.”

“Progress” is his middle name

I was first elected as a Councillor in May 1971 for the Rounds Green Ward of the former Warley County Borough Council which had been formed as part of the 1966 Local Government Reorganisation from the former Boroughs of  Oldbury ,Smethwick and Rowley Regis in the Black Country.

I was a member of the Sandwell Council from 1973  to 1975

Why did I decide not to continue? One reason was advancing years, I was 68 last birthday, mainly though  because I wansted  (sic) to retire while I was still making a useful contribution, but also because I wanted to spend more time doing some of  the  things in  the community ,which I wanted to do, without the responsibility of attending some of the meetings. In short, to have more time for politics as Tony Benn put.

Do I regret my decision? ,No ,Do I miss  it? ,not a lot . I continue as a Labour Party activist and hope to do so for many years into the future.”

 

Upsy daisy- On the knocker, up the Cakemore (Martin far right),

 JUST TO RECAP………

So that might be the end of the story, a distinguished career in Local Government, as well as 50+ year stint as a socialist Labour activist.  But that isn’t the end of the story. Let’s take a closer look at what MJP was doing in 1977 in The Queen’s Silver Jubilee year as part of the wretched West Midlands County council, which to reemphasise, he was part of for the whole of its existence between 1973-1986. WMCC was the waste management authority which passed the “contentious licence” SL31 for Albright and Wilson’s Rattlechain lagoon, as well as the equally contentious Gower tip, SL32 in 1977.

The Dodo WMCC logo

For not only was the younger Martin on the council at this time, but he was also on the Waste Disposal and Pollution Control Committee  that oversaw the creation and issuing of the said licences, as well as a string of others that continue in one form or another to blight the borough of Sandwell and beyond into the distant future- BY VIRTUE OF THEIR CONTAMINATED EXISTENCE.  He was also on a sub committee of that group (Joint negotiating sub-committee (waste disposal) of personnel and administration)-

NB. Martin Prestidge has clarified in writing

 “THE LATTER DEALT MAINLY WITH PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATION MATTERS. AT NO TIME WAS I PERSONALLY INVOLVED WITH NEGOTIATIONS WITH ANY COMPANY CONCERNING THEIR APPLICATIONS. “

Minutes of the December 22nd 1977 committee reveal those councillors serving, as well as declarations of interest by those county councillors. MJP was at the meeting that afternoon. The Rattlechain site licence was on the agenda of the supplementary report of the county waste disposal officer as item 4b with the Gower tip on the agenda as item 4c. An non-pecuniary interest for item 4a only is recorded by Cllr Prestidge-

MARTIN PRESTIDGE HAS CLARIFIED

“THE SITE WAS OWNED BY ACCLES AND POLLACK, WHERE I HAD BEEN EMPLOYED SOME TEN YEARS OR SO PREVIOUSLY. NO PERCUNIARY INTEREST EXISTED.”

If anyone has any info on the other councillors on the committee at this time please get in touch.

Note, as we have pointed out before, the report clearly states that the site has been in use “since 1942”, when the production of AW bombs had ceased at Trinity Street, and the storage of these useless weapons would be an issue.

The Mitco lagoon site is another notorious HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE that was propagated by  West Midlands county council, and the fact that the licence appears to have been passed by just one person, the chair, shows just how  unscrutinised the process was. The site today is still largely unusable for anything concerning housing, despite the political class pouring fat on the fire regards building on “brownfield sites.”

In the report concerning rattlechain, the draft licence condition 30 limiting the life of the site to 1985 is waived in favour of being without restriction. At this point Councillor MJP is one of three declaring that their names be recorded against this decision.

MARTIN PRESTIDGE HAS MADE THE FOLLOWIING COMMENT CONCERNING THIS

“THE WEST MIDLANDS COUNTY COUNCIL WAS CONSERVATIVE CONTROLLED IN 1977 AND THE LABOUR MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE VOTED FOR A MORE LIMITED CONDITION THAN WAS GRANTED BY THE CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL MEMBERS.”

We would however point out that the Labour party  controlled the council from 1974–77, with the Conservatives controlling it 1977–81. It reverted to Labour control for the last term 1981–86. Therefore for the creation of the licence and subsequently after it had been passed, the Labour group made no changes to the conditions on the licence.

So a former Sandwell councillor was on a committee that passed a dodgy site waste licence, in fact many of them.  Links that MJP had with Albright and Wilson’s and later Rhodia’s fortunes are relevant during this subsequent period of Labour control of the council- for clarity 1981-1986.  To explain, Councillor Prestidge celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary on  11th January 2015. He was therefore married to his wife in 1975.

His wife Mary was employed at the Trinity Street site as a secretary to the site manager at the company (Albright and Wilson) for many years (he states 30) before she retired.

In his final declaration as councillor dated May 12th  2010, the he states that his wife is a pensioner of Rhodia consumer specialities Limited. Rhodia of course taking over Albright and Wilson in 2001.

“My Wife – Mrs Mary Prestidge is a pensioner of:- Rhodia Consumer Specialities Ltd and is a Member of UNITE – AMICUS”

MJP DECLARES

MARTIN PRESTIDGE HAS MADE THE FOLLOWING CLARIFICATION CONCERNING HIS WIFE’S EMPLOYMENT.

“NO INTEREST WAS DECLARED BECAUSE NO INTEREST EXISTED. MY WIFE, MARY PRESTIDGE, COMMENCED EMPLOYMENT AT ALBRIGHT AND WILSON IN JANUARY 1980. HER DUTIES WERE PURELY SECRETARIAL AND SHE HAD NO INVOLVEMENT IN MATTERS SUCH AS PLANNING AND LICENSING APPLICATIONS OR WASTE DISPOSAL.”

We would note that the comment written on the facebook page “WE USED TO WORK FOR ALBRIGHT AND WILSON” BY CAROL NICHOLSON AS STATED ABOVE READS-

“GIVE MY REGARDS TO MARY, WE USED TO CATCH THE BUS TOGETHER  SOMETIMES FROM ROUNDS GREEN IN THE EARLY 70’s”

This must have refered to some other place of work that they shared, BEFORE  THEIR JOINT EMPLOYMENT AT ALBRIGHT AND WILSON.

It is clear that the Trinity Street site has been a major polluter in the Langley area for many years- continuing under Rhodia which by acquisition is  merely now called “solvay”.  In a recent facebook exchange he stated the following concerning

“I’ve always found the company to be open and honest in their dealings and don’t attempt to cover up anything.”

Oh really Lord Langley, then how about in no particular order

• The toxic nature of the sediment at Rattlechain lagoon.
• The toxic effects of white phosphorus that they did not inform us of when entering the site and the water and also at meetings where they had the opportunity.
• Attempting to suggest that birds found with white phosphorus in them had not swallowed enough to cause their deaths, (because of the “small amount” found).
• We  know they were poisoned systemically– but this is a far cry away from the lies of Rhodia, that they were even trying to spin with dishonest PR journalists after the chemical had been found. Twelve wildfowl tested all found P4 in 5 different species. All were recovered from the lake, all had been poisoned there by its contents.
• Fires at the site and their cause.
•  mis-management by Albright and Wilson/Rhodia/Solvay  despite claiming that they were fully compliant with site licensing.

• We continue to ask the relevant questions about the Trinity Street site. The site is a cloud over Langley and Oldbury at large despite Prestidge’s claims to be otherwise.

OF COURSE THEY HAVE DONE EXACTLY WHAT HE CLAIMS THEY HAVE NOT DONE- AND COVER UP NOT CLEAN UP RATTLECHAIN LAGOON WITH A SHEET AND SAND- ALL DOWN TO REQUIRED LEGISLATION, AND NOT BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO.

SURGERY

As swanwatch, we once visited one of the three Langley councillors surgeries concerning Rattlechain around 2002. No one from their actual area had turned up to the surgery, one of only 2 held per month, which leaves one asking what the point of having 3 councillors per ward actually is when they are so not rushed off their feet?

At this point MJP did not reveal his wife’s employment with them, WE RAISED THE ISSUE OF BIRDS DYING AT RATTLECHAIN AT THIS SURGERY.  It would not be long before the spotlight of Legionnaire’s Disease would be linked to their site and brought the Langley area National attention.  The three of them sat eating a selection of cakes in between gulps of tea served with saucers, in addition to David Hinton, councillor for Tividale and husband of Pauline. The whole time Hinton (Mr) yawned repeatedly and loudly as I spoke, which left me not only feeling that he was the rudest man I had ever met, but that it was perhaps a novelty to get someone actually turn up at one of their gigs and they wanted shot to eat more cake. We didn’t even get offered a crumb of French Fancy- I would even have eaten the brown ones.

Incredible, there appears to be one every couple of years. The latest is a plastics factory located near to the BIP chemical works and adjacent to Trinity Street on the opposite side of the Titford canal.

I could see plumes of smoke from where I was and from the direction could guess that it was somewhere around Langley or the M5 area. Not another Rhodia fire I thought, but then the lack of air raid sirens going off counselled  that it must be someplace else on fire on this occasion.

A fire engine on route to the scene

Large plumes of thick black smoke were billowing out as a police cordon closed off the road. With a diesel storage yard as well as the chemical factories nearby I would certainly not want to live on this road. A platform appliance hosed down on the roof of the building which is quite apparent has been a write off, if not the whole factory.

Unfortunately this scenario appears to be one repeating itself all too frequently in this area. You cannot mix industry with housing like this- it just doesn’t work, and one day  people are going to be killed. As one set of amateur politicians serve their turn upon another they appear incapable of solving this issue, and for all the back slapping and talk of resilience working , one can only wonder where the next fire will be. It is beyond a fucking joke.

On the cut

Image from Bing Maps

A few images of life trying to survive around this toxic waste site.

Keep out ducks

pigeons on the pier

A pair of geese mating at the site.

Further to the recent new sign in the North East corner of the site, the North West is now represented with another identical one.

And another at the main entrance.

Other additions include a warning sign on each of the life buoys, including the one on the pier.

“DANGER DO NOT ENTER WATER.  

DEEP WATER

RISK OF DROWNING”

It’s not clear to whom these signs are addressed given that they face inwards towards the pool and not outwards to potential trespassers. The seagulls or squirrels perhaps?

Additional razor wire notices have also gone up. Something tells me someone has been over the fence or tried to. It’s all starting to get AW BOMBS of a sudden. What are the Oldbury rogues up to?

It’s been pretty quiet at the lagoon of late. Not much in the way of wildfowl, so observations are confined to things around the site.

Recently some curious items have turned up in John’s Lane.

At the main gate, a bizarre still life. I should perhaps enter it into some pretentious art competition. “Rattlechain child” I could see it might stand a chance of winning.

The odd digging on the north embankment has also been covered up. Perhaps it was the bottle diggers returning after all?

As if to emphasise this, a new sign has appeared fixed to the metal railings at the North East corner of the site, giving a handy reminder of the nature of the contents contained within.

“HAZARDOUS”

It’s just a bit late that they finally want to admit this however. Whoever was tasked with putting it up obviously had a convenient prompt on the reverse as to where to stick it.

Got that!

Another useful prop that has turned up is a Jerry mouse Microscope. There are quite a few things to look at quite closely at this site, not least the odd Tom that occasionally turns up.

Site Notice Board

We know they have

“NO RESPONSIBILITY”

The saga of licensing of this site can be read HERE. The current state of affairs can be read HERE.

Whoever holds the keys may well choose to keep the site’s secrets under lock and key, but we will continue to put their site, and their activities under the lens of scrutiny that they deserve.

Further to the previous blog post concerning stinky Robinson Brothers and their odour and pollution problems comes a guest blog written by former local Sandwell councillor Jayne Wilkinson. She has kindly allowed me to publish it here and as a resident of the Langley area where the Albright and Wilson/Rhodia/Solvay plant is based, she has first hand experience of what happens when a major incident breaks out at a large chemical/industrial factory. In this case it was “Alcohols Limited”, based in Crosswell’s Road.

Jayne recalls:

“I remember the Alcohols ltd chemical Incident as clearly as if it happened Yesterday. It was a usual Monday morning , at the time I was working at home on some casework , the date was 26/11/2012, the time of the incident as I recall the initial explosion was roughly 9.58 am , I was on the phone when I heard a terrifying screech that turned into a painful scream. I looked out the window located in my hallway. I saw what looked like a touch of flames radiating from the far corner of the wall of the factory to our house , I couldn’t believe what I was looking at , I cut off the person I was speaking to on the phone and started to shake violently in a fit of panic .

I dialled 999 and was quickly attempting to get the operator to send a fire engine ,I then realised I was only through to the operator , there was a pause and then I was through to the fire service I explained what had happened and insisted we needed a fire engine as fast as physically possible , I put the phone down and ran up stairs to my daughters bedroom which is on the front of the house facing the alcohols factory , I took a photograph , I’ve no idea why , I think I just could not believe what had happened , I was still shaking when I realised I needed to leave the house ,the windows started to making cracking noises and the heat was very intense radiating through the front of the house , the dogs were panicking and so was I , aimlessly running round the house thinking what should I do I’d never experienced such fear …

I’d been in my pj’s cause I was dying my hair so was not in appropriate clothing to evacuate and my hair dye was still on my head , burning my scalp at this point ….
I ran into the back bedroom throw some clothes on and proceeded to the back garden leaving everything as it was just before the explosion , I didn’t have time to think ,I opened the front door but was forced back into the house by the heat of the explosion , I ran to the back into the house then ran into the back garden realising at the point when I reached the back gate I was trapped , all I could hear was the booming noises of barrels exploding , shooting up into the air , I looked up at the house from the far end of the garden and all I could see was the house appearing to shake with every loud banging noises a black plume of smoke filled the air densely from the site of the explosion …

There was a voice at the back of the gate saying “I’ll get you out don’t worry” , at this point I was crying uncontrollably saying ‘I’m can’t get out I’m going to die , help me I need to save my dogs’ , I ran back to the house from the back gate and got a bunch of keys to attempt to open the padlock on the gate but my hands were uncontrollably shaking , the voice at the back of the gate was shouting move away from the gate ” I’ll kick it in ” I shouted. “You can’t its double bolted its impossible”; at this point I felt I was trapped and I was going to die .

As it was becoming a matter of urgency that myself and my 2 dogs needed to escape the garden I pulled at the trellis fencing and found the strength to rip it apart from the corner , two hands reached over encouraging me to escape , I passed my 2 little dogs out first as they were both petrified then I clambered out and collapsed in a heap crying uncontrollably as I was scared from my traumatic experience .
In the days that followed it was becoming apparent that all the residents in the street and neighbouring streets close to the incident site location were going to be evacuated out our homes for longer than over night , I believe the fire raged for 2 and a half days or round about that time before it was completely put out .

On the day no one communicated with residents on what to do, we all heard word of mouth that we were to report to the Moat farm Junior school at the top of Brookfield’s road , so that we could all be accounted for as affected residents .
We did as instructed, however when we left we were shocked to see people simply standing around the affected site .

During the aftermath we were informed we could go to our homes and collect our belongings. There was no indication from anyone how long we would be evacuated or even if our properties would be safe from looters , we did as instructed but were given no instruction where we should go , I stayed at my mothers with my daughter and my husband and the dogs stayed at his parents .

No one was telling us anything it was as if no one knew anything and could not tell us anything . I’d heard some horror stories of people stating they’d been threatened with arrest if they would not evacuate their homes , one women at the make shift ” rescue centre ” was crying cause the police would not let her rescue her sick dog who was dying of cancer , another said no one helped her rescue her sick husband , it was all very distressing .

We also heard looting had been going on so as you can imagine our front door had been kicked in by the police even though they’d been assured there was no one in our house , the house and its contents were exposed to potential looters as there was no street lighting it would make our local street a target .

Melted

In the days that followed we were allowed back home to access the devastation our home was melted from the front and our family car was also in a state of being melted as were other neighbours , I had to cope for others , my neighbour was extremely distressed after the experiences we all had during that period of time , we all supported each other with very little information being given to us .

We spent Christmas 2012 without windows having them boarded up , waiting for them to be replaced , my neighbours homes nearest the heat of the fire were also in the same situation , we insisted that when the windows were replaced our neighbours got theirs replaced first as we felt it right to support others over ourselves as we’d always been local community volunteer workers and we always thought of others before ourselves .
We felt isolated and unsupported at times by the failures of information sharing , we were affected but felt at times an afterthought, we still don’t know what’s going on at the factory .”

After the incident Sandwell Council as a local authority published a post fire incident which can be read below.

Crosswells_Road_Fire_Post_Incident_Report_v1_0

According to the aim of the report

“As part of Sandwell Council’s Emergency Management Policy a post incident review is carried out after every significant event involving the council. This report is designed to capture all of the learning points, to ensure that if a similar incident occurs in the future the council will be able to demonstrate, through an improved response, that lessons have been learned. In keeping with the expectations of Government and the requirements of the Council under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 the lessons learned report will include recommendations which, if approved, form the basis of an action plan.”

Basically it amounts to what a great job they think they did on the day, though as Jayne has pointed out, this was a different view to residents actually affected. The future of the factory appears to be clouded, and like the Trinity Street plant it remains within the so called “consultation zone” which prohibits certain types of development from taking place near to such permitted industrial sites BECAUSE OF THE HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES CONTAINED WITHIN. . Whereas the residents in such areas are largely in the dark as to what is really going on behind the industrial shutters, such companies can continue to operate anonymously , only revealing themselves when the next major incident comes along.

DO YOU LIVE NEAR TO A SIMILAR CHEMICAL/ INCINERATOR/ QUARRY/ WASTE TIP SITE SUCH AS THIS OR RATTLECHAIN LAGOON? HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN A SIMILAR MAJOR INCIDENT? WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR STORY AND YOU CAN TELL IT HERE. PLEASE DROP US A LINE.

WE NEED TO MAKE THESE PEOPLE AWARE THAT THE VICTIMS OF INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION HAVE A VOICE.

It’s not all about Albright and Wilson/Rhodia/Solvay. There are other chemical manufacturers in the Sandwell area  whom have become well acquainted with their neighbours, but  not particularly for good neighbourly reasons. Oldbury has its Trinity Street behemoths manufacturing phosphorus whereas Greets Green has Robinson Brothers, “organo-sulfur synthesis and high pressure hydrogenation”. They are  another member of the Chemical Industries Association Lobby group.

If it was said of Albright and Wilson that they “produced the flavour in cheese and onion crisps”, “stinky Robbos” could be said to produce the odour that goes into a well brewed Curry fart. For the Phoenix Street pungenters have an odour management problem that could knock out a rat wearing breathing apparatus 100 miles away if the wind was blowing in the right direction.

Long suffering Greets Green residents are gassed by a smell so horrifically bad it defies rationale description in the English Midlands vernacular. Imagine burnt rubber, aniseed, a slice of vanilla mixed with human shit and you begin to arouse the flavour being belted out. A mix of sweet and sour, but always grotesque in bouquet- that’s stinky Robbos; not to be confused with the barley water manufacturers but chemical manufacturers.

It all started small, as they all do don’t they? Established for the distillation of coal tar and Ammonium by the brothers Grime in 1869, we have William Leckie Robinson, James Henry Robinson And Charles R Robinson. The map below from 1902 confirms the site was then known as Ryders green Tar Works.

Obviously they endured well into the 20th century as the site grew along with their chemical products. When site licensing came into existence in the mid 1970’s, they like Albright and Wilson had to suddenly apply to carry on pumping.

A long running wrangle emerged between the stinkies and West Midlands county council, the licensing authority over two licences that they had applied for, namely SL173 and SL174. These two boreholes had been sunk in 1930 and 1964 for waste disposal and an incinerator and the dopey county council issued them in August 1978. Despite this the national coal board (NCB) objected that the voids belonged to them. One borehole was in use before 1938 but the other did not have NCB consent. The stinkies were denied the second licence but appealed successfully  Ref WD/APP/HE/77, given that the NCB could not produce evidence that the voids had been left as the result of coal mining.

Planning permission was not needed and a change of use had not been necessary as the whole site was used as a chemical works. What transpired over time in connection with these two licences is not so clear, but the stinkies have been involved in a very high profile pollution incident where a record fine was brought against them by British Waterways.

Stinky Robbos is located next to The Birmingham Canal navigations.

The incident in question occurred in January 2002. A quite disgusting black treacle began to stretch down the eight locks, through Great Bridge and then rampantly express its loins through Moxley and beyond as far as Darlaston along the Walsall Canal. In its wake dead fish, thousands of them were left behind. In the other direction it also went towards Black Lake- how ironic.

The local paper at the time were full of it. The Environment agency goons were also full of it, spouting their usual bullshine about lack of evidence, and dismissing local people who know their environment’s better than the shitheads from Fradley Park. Gradually it became clear that Stinky Robbos were in the frame, but the dirty blighters tried to deny it.

Express and Star article 18/1/2002

Express and Star article 28/1/2002

But stinky Robbos were guilty as charged, and this time they had to cough up dough instead of rubber. It was the third biggest fine of the year according to the Environment agency.

The canal in this area is heavily contaminated, and there is not much doubt as to the source. On one occasion it turned carrot orange. Obviously this was a different form of iron brew that you would not want to taste. Robinson’s own?

Ryders Green Lock number 1 2007. Picture courtesy Roy Martin

Today the West Brom stinkers proudly boast

“We are committed to the prevention of pollution and in particular we will:

• Reduce all of the impacts we have on our local communities; particularly odours and noise”

There is rumoured to be a residents liason group, yet unlike the wind it appears strangely hidden, impenetrable by even  Mossad. That patron saint of lost Sandwell causes, Robert Stanley Badham (ex councillor) was a player on it at one time I believe. But for the long suffering Greets Green gassed, they get not as much as a “passing bell” of an annual calendar from the stinkers.

You can leave your hat on

AND ADD TO THIS , STINKY ROBBO’S HAVE BEEN FINED FOR THEIR STINKY SMELLS.

HERE IS ANOTHER REPORT.

YOU DIRTY STINKERS ROBBOS, PUT A RUDDY CORK IN IT!!!!

Recently in the now landscaped North embankment some curious diggings have emerged. Although this is probably some form of “monitoring” that the site owners claim to be undertaking, the fact that they appear to have exposed the surface of the contaminated material beneath the covering and cap layer would appear to defeat the object.

Badgers?

Whoever has been digging out the bank, they appear to have unearthed some more bottles and crockery.

This was what was going on when they first laid the material.

September 2013

Just a quick heads up on an interesting new page put up last week. Certainly an eye opener regards white phosphorus and the manner in which the polluters of the Rattlechain site thought it appropriate to dump their various safety experiments down Tividale way.