What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

We said so in punning jest, as to how a dirty British chemical company with a dire pollution record were allowed a licence to dump toxic poisonous waste into the environment.

He has been an excellent animal rights advocate and agent, but here is a young Sir Roger Moore’s image before he was famous used in one of those old stalker “chemicals for industry” adverts from 1953. Perhaps its Anthony Perkins creeping up behind him in the shower, or jaws or nik nak?

Would you like to take a dip in Rattlecahin lagoon Mr Wishart?

Raising an eyebrow, I just wonder if the “water treatment advisory service” that Albright and Wilson talk of here were the same stupid prats that were advising how to treat white phosphorus contaminated sediment and water at Rattlechain lagoon all those years ago?

Swans in the area love their oats, though they aren’t particularly keen on the quaker variety for some reason.

The area once comprising the Rattlechain brickworks area appears to reveal a hive of industrial activity, though little trace remains of the actual works themselves. Brickmaking may have ended with a whimper in the 1960’s though the canal basin which used to serve the site is more overgrown with trees now, though I suspect the pollution below this is filled with many old bricks that were thrown in when the works themselves were demolished.

 Stopboard grooves can be seen on the entrance to what remains of the basin. I have seen historic pictures of the site held by South Staffordshire council which reveals a fairly sizeable v shaped basin was still there in 1964.

a stopboard groove

 It must have taken some considerable skill to enter the basin with such a tight turn. This picture from 1948 just shows the bridge entry point below to the right.

Unfortunately many of the rounded blue bricks that capped the bridge have been stolen, a problem across the area. Though British Waterways used to replace them, it seems that much of the will has gone now.

Land where once was water

Around the brickworks area and within rattlechain lagoon itself there is a multitude of pottery and bottles, much of it buried below the surface of the North embankment, hence why bottle digging was a popular activity here.

But there is no record of any bottle factory in the area shown by the historic maps which can account for such a hefty haul.

“I’m a little teapot short and stout”

A bottle unearthed on the north embankment during the 2013 works

The bottle below was unearthed by Heyrman De Roeck contractors digging on the North West embankment. I do not know the origin or contents of what it may have contained, but the name “Gibsons” is written in the marbley glass.

Poison?

If anyone can elaborate on this firm or what this may have contained please drop us a line. What it may have been doing in the Rattlechain site is another matter entirely.

Also unearthed in 2013 was an old Albright and Wilson sign denying responsibility for any injury.

We now have a similar situation with “Rhodia UK Limited”. I wonder whether this sign will be buried and one day unearthed by the next users of the site?

A break of sorts from the goings on at the lagoon. This post is about my observations of the urban angler. Some anglers appreciate wildlife and respect it, but a sizeable number do not. I have witnessed one drunk who was upset that the RSPCA were spoiling his jobless days fishing when trying to catch a bird that was tangled with line. Many people involved with the rescue of wildlife might appreciate and recognise this sub species of human being unfortunately at large.

There is a saying about some people you despise that “the best part of them ran down their mothers leg when they were born” ; but in some of these people I have encountered in the past it would have been better if these tumours to society had been removed with a swift punch up the sows’ stomachs about 3 months in.

  It is strange that the biggest risk of trying to help wildlife does not come from these animals themselves but often through explicit threats of violence from those who cannot understand the concept of trying to help something that cannot help itself. Why grown men want to spend company with other men in tents for days on end is beyond me, but each to their own I suppose. For the anglers amongst you, perhaps consider that other waterway users judge you all on what this minority are doing, and perhaps consider trying to remove them from the bankside permanently. 

THE COMPLETE URBAN ANGLER

What lies beneath those womblike waters?-

The canal delivers the eery fascination,

for those reluctant little Oedipus lads

dragged along the cut by their eager dads

 cloned in their own perceived bulldog image,

bored at throwing bricks at passing ducks,

 their suck used up and litter chucked-

curiosity when invited  to play with a waggler,

 dad has “scientific” skill unlike mother-

 botched DIY, predicting dogs,  his others.

spotless

 Not alone in these perverted pleasures,

                            old men past their prime clutch dysfunctional reels,

           loners huddled together under an umbrella,

              cursing pisces, the law and those Polish fellas,

                                 next to them jobless youths for whom a Smirnoff is God,

     a couple of carp stashed in the tackle box

with hot copper wire to burn ad hoc,

 the air polluted with misogyny,

spouting about the world’s right and wrongs

from their rambling liquor laced tongues.

Jesus liked the company of fishermen,

 “can’t go out to sea, repair your nets” he said,

todays fair weather angler dodges the eye of the labour

decorating for Mr Patel his neighbour,

careful to hide the NF ink on his white washed fingers,

his hands a pallet of red groundbait and tobacco brown,

the thought of the pub tempers his frown,

 where free to make jokes about colour and race,

why shouldn’t he bite the hand that feeds

and clothes his children in fake burberry and tweeds?

But pity the plight of their virago wives,

angling widows left behind on the council estate,

sleeping alone with Izaak Walton’s book,

jealous of their blokes affair with fish and hook,

and in part amusement and part revenge

 they reach for their own device in the draw

 with a flashing battery powered core,

 a buzz and a sound when they get a bite

but still from this aimless loveless abyss

they murmur lonely-“what kind of life is this?”

 Bankside, little Johnny has caught his first big one,

unlike the failure of every exam he will ever sit at school,

father and son united in a phallic obsession,

they hold aloft their prized possession,

captured in a photograph with their catch of conflict,

bonded but still enemies in this “sport”

much like their eternal dispute of sorts

about ownership of one woman’s genitals.

This is the feed that drives the route,

a poison porcine passionate pursuit.

and they think they are predators

It’s like setting your own questions for an exam and then getting someone else to mark it. Rhodia/Solvay “prepare” the site, invite ERM et al onto site to “monitor” the site, then ERM et al report back to Rhodia/Solvay who know what they will find, who then pass on their findings to The Environment Agency who take no action, and do not monitor anything themselves. Got that, good because this is the dodgy goings on that are no doubt going on at many hazardous waste sites and development sites across the country.

I suppose I should have guessed that the hosepipe and water shifting between the two lagoons was for the purpose of the 6 month “monitoring” that would be undertaken since the official but unofficial finish of the works. And so it was that suspicious activity on the site, (which has been going on since 1942 lets face it) saw new pieces of machinery arrive on site at the end of last week, as well as some familiar old faces…..

“Yellow fever” arrives at Rattlechain lagoon

“smallpox” ready for action.

ERM and dusty bin

Hoorah! The Heyrmans are back again!

More hard labour ahead for our intrepid Belgian heroes

An AW bomb on a stick

Spotted the monitor, wonder if the battery was charged?

Security fence pretty pup, but fixed now.

It appears to be a case of general tarting up the site. Adding some grass seed onto the bare patches and adding more bricks to cover over the exposed geotextile areas.

Yellow fever and smallpox at work on the North embankment

 But not only were areas reseeded by the Heyrmans, but smallpox and yellow fever were also deployed to lay more bricks around the edges of the lake. There is subtle but slow infilling going on here. They hope no-one will notice, but these eyes are not easily fooled- they should know that by now.

bricks under the pier

By the end of the week it was quite clear that whilst the contractors and monitors were on site, the bubbles of gas coming to the surface were unmistakably being given off in multiple areas in the main lagoon, especially towards the far North East side lake. And so to combat this the hosepipe appears to have been moved further into this area in an attempt to disguise the eruptions from below. A case of trying to hide what lies beneath with a fountain of what lies above.

“It wasn’t me that moved it”

Pondering WHAT LIES BENEATH RATTLECHAIN LAGOON?

Easter time is supposed to be a time of renewal and regeneration.

The hatchlings are now starting to appear. I saw the first family of canada’s yesterday whilst out and about.

At Rattlechain over the last week a hosepipe has suddenly been turned on from the new pier pump.

It appears that water is being emptied from the smaller lagoon ( that recently underwent an aluminium sulphate dumping session ) and into the main geotextile laid lagoon. WHY? Is the larger lagoon now considered to have too high a ph? And why would that be the case? Or is the smaller lagoon now too acidic? A case of conjuring water from one side to the other, whilst trying to hide the chemicals added.

The bubbles of gas are still visibly being given off in the larger capped lagoon, so I wonder if this is just an attempt to try to disguise it?

The lowering water levels can be gauged by the plunging mark on the pier.

As for the birds, let’s hope that they cannot access anything that lingers below, after all the point of not capping the smaller lagoon was supposedly that the birds would not be able to reach anything in this lagoon.

There is also the question of the disappearing bowsers stored at the southern end near to the houses. Three now remain. Iwonder if they hatched? Perhaps another experiment going on here?

6 shown here

On Monday there was an early morning appearance of 7 greylags, which presumably came in with the rain the night before. Ghostly grey shapes across the foggy abyss at the toxic waste dump. By dinner with the fog gone, so had they. Wise move chaps.

Greylags in the mist

And so to the landmark 100th post on this blog. As stated several times, this website was set up initially to put forward our point of view that was not being reported widely, on an issue that was both personal and prolonged because of business lies backed up by regulator incompetence and bureaucracy. We are sure that this is just one of many examples of how the chemical industry has managed to gain in stature at the expense of the environment and which there appears to be no end to how its toxic legacy can be covered up.

The victims of industrial pollution can be animals, birds as well as humans. In their time, Albright and Wilson poisoned them all and left behind a gift for the future which also made the future the biggest victim of all. But they were just one of many private companies backed up by odious Governments and politicians with financial and political mineral grabing intent. And still their phoney wars continue……

It can also be said from someone of “today’s generation” that there is little to thank the post war generation for in terms of how they appeared too busy celebrating the peace of World War Two to care about dumping thousands of tonnes of nerve and chemical weapons into the sea for “safety”, whilst collaborating on more ghastly experiments in secret to wipe out mankind and life many times over, simply because “the other side” may find it first.  NO -YOU DESERVE NO “THANKYOU” AT ALL. YOU DESERVE UTTER CONTEMPT, AND AS THE HISTORY BOOKS SWAY OUT OF YOUR CONTROL YOU WILL BE JUDGED BY TOMORROW FOR RUINING OUR TODAY FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE OF YESTERDAY.

Whilst the world engages in so called “climate change” speculation, the real time victims of industrial pollution like those at Rattlechain slip unseen by the wayside unreported. The top table environmental organisations like the top table animal organisations were not interested in our struggle or in rattlechain lagoon itself. So it was left to ourselves alone to try to investigate it on behalf of the bird victims. They want your money to continue their admin jobs; there are no donate pages on this website.

  “Lie-met change”  describes how university academics can be paid their entire lives to produce research backed and taxpayer funded by western governments to use as the manipulative tool to prevent Eastern industrial expansion. This money could clean up  contaminated sites like rattlechain many many times over, yet these university parasites keep feeding off us like vermin with their puppet masters never stopping their supply of carrots.

Environmental organisations no longer speak out about atrocities such as those committed by BP, such is their vain obsession with their “climate change” religion- playing right into the hands of the political class again. We now have “the Department for energy and climate change”- thus linking the climate lie with the energy lie. It is hard to see how so many people are so gullible in believing what politicians and scientists tell them is right, but with so many believing in God and religion, perhaps it is not that hard to see a different set of words and prophets of doom. I call the lot a mental health issue.

The environmental movement has lost its way since 2000, at end of millenium paranoia set in, backed up by Hollywood Movies that were always part of the Western conspiracy plot to maintain a public perception that the world would end from manmade activity.  Climate change and Nostradamus go hand in hand with the theory changing only when “an event” occurs. The mass media presentation, also in the loop of deceipt complete the production. So now they all look to weather satellites and the clouds and to scientists, too busy noticing acid spills and oil on the beaches, chemical emissions in the water or the air. I remember when Greenpeace prosecuted Albright and Wilson at Whitehaven and stopped their polluting activities with direct action!

The world will not end from industrial pollution, but it will produce victims whilst the lie-met mob continue their self promoted importance and the scientists , businessmen and politicians smile on counting their currency in GM crops and windfarming  technologies. You don’t have to look very far into who bankroles presidential campaigns. They are happy to promote artificial life instead of improving life for us all, and carving a career on the after dinner speach circuit to anyone who will listen.

 From those who controlled the waste dumping  situation from their ivory tower at Trinity Street and WD24 4QP, not and ever a single apology nor expression of remorse for our real victims of industrial pollution. Only a cover up with sand to bury their heads in.

It only comes as some warped personal pleasure to this writer that he will outlive some of the main protagonists long enough to water the knotweed around the headstones bearing their names. 

The word ameriolation does not really apply to the rattlechain site, because it has not really healed. Whereas we wanted the toxic threat to be removed forever to produce no more victims, what we have is a puncture patch stuck over a gaping wound, in the hope that it will not blow out and last the journey, whereby it is hoped that time will forget what lay beneath the water.

We remember the many swans and other birds, some which we had followed since hatching and remember how their lives were cut short by the Oldbury chemical companies waste and lies. Many could have been avoided, which makes it all the worse to bare, as was the slowness at which we discovered the truth that we now know.

This video and song are an apt conclusion for this post. Someday I might even get round to doing my own take.

For the victims…….

THE EXCESS & TAR       1st April 2014

Farting frogs to blame for lagoon “gas”

By Ross Socrates

The cause of bubbling gas at a controversial waste disposal site was today revealed to be being caused by flatulating frogs. Local residents and the campaign group Sandwell Swanwatch had raised concerns at bubbles of gas rising to the surface of the Rattlechain lagoon in Tividale, which underwent remedial works last year “to make it safe for wildfowl.”

The lagoon contains white phosphorus, which is toxic and the deaths of dozens of birds were blamed by ingesting the chemical. Spokesman for swanwatch Ian Carroll  said,

” We were concerned about gas being visibly evolved from the lagoon which we recorded on video. We were convinced that this was phosphine gas being evolved at the site due to the nature of the waste being stored there, and also after being in contact with experts in the US who have dealt with similar sites. I was sure that the smell of rotting fish, garlic and onions was coming from the lagoon. However now that I have seen Rhodia/Solvay’s extensive research, I am convinced that the cause of the gas is coming from the frogs at the lagoon.” he added.

Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble

Belgian company Solvay, who own the pool, commissioned 10 environmental consultants, the RSPCA, the WWF, The Environment Agency, Sandwell council environmental health, Public Health England, Defra, Esther Rantzen and former MP Lembit Opik to investigate the claims of gas being evolved. A company spokeman today commented;

“Naturally we too were concerned at the gas being evolved from the lagoon and the concern expressed by local residents. We took water and ambient air samples and are pleased to confirm that the results and conclusions from our independent consultants express the view that the flatulence from the frogs at the site pose no human health risks. Analysis was conducted using “UK best practice” and samples were sent to accredited laboratories for analysis.”

The breakthrough at the site apparently came when the record “We all stand together” by Paul McCartney was played nonstop during daylight hours, with the gassing amphibians joining in the chorus. In addition to the frogs, the odours from 5 toads, 3 sticklebacks and a housesparrow were detected.

The small silent ones are the deadliest

A collection of the avian funny ha-ha and the funny peculiar.

There is nothing more fascinating for this bird lover than watching what these creatures make of the world filled with human junk. They take our food, scraps and nuts from tables and off the ground to survive. They acquire materials to nest with that have been thrown away in idle haste. And they can also just be plain mischievous. Take this crow on the John’s Lane path next to rattlechain.

Hello

 A few bricks to pick up and rearrange.

 And how about a “no entry sign” to tidy up.

 Coots are particularly good at collecting piles of rubbish to build nests. They also like to rest on debris in the water.

The survivors

Men at work, coots at rest

 By far the most dangerous of wild birds to handle, in the UK at least is the grey heron. I have had a couple of encounters. It is like a pair of scissors coming at your eyes, supposedly because they strike at the shiniest thing that they see. They make good use of the large pincers. I saw one once swallow a live rat whole. Most of the time it is fish. A knife and fork would be easier.

And of course I have a particular interest in swans. I have never seen one “mate for life”, “break a person’s arm”, or “pine to death” when their mate dies. THESE ARE ALL URBAN MYTHS. What I have directly observed are female swans swapping mates to hold onto their nesting territory when a stronger male comes along. And the level of incest amongst “pairs” which consist of sons and mothers, fathers and daughters and siblings make the Quakers family trees look uncomplicated. The  male swan below was well known in the area for building two nests. One for his “wife” and another one for one of his previous “daughters.” Both bred that particular year leading to an uneasy squabbling between the two females before an ordered collective was established.

I have also seen the result of two pairs of swans coming together. One pair had 4 cygnets, the other 8. On one visit to the canal in question, I saw the pair with 8 had suddenly appeared to have lost them all. Carrying on further imagine the surprise when all 12 cygnets were with the other pair! The 8 were slightly bigger than the existing 4 as they were slightly older but it was quite apparent that the adults could not count, and they went on to rear them all as their own. These type of observations don’t appear in the official documentaries or published research, but they are real observations.

One bizarre thing that is true is how territorial swans are in relation to other wildfowl. Despite lovingly tending to their young, letting them ride on their backs and teaching them to fly, come the new spring or even before they turn on them with an effortless flick of a switch.

 It’s usually males that do the attacking, but in this case the female was particularly being the more agressive- perhaps indicating that the cygnet in question was another female she saw as a threat.

Mrs Vicious Bastard sticks the boot in.

This male swan is convinced that a love rival is starring back at him from inside a parallel world on the other side of the building.

 For hours he will look at himself in the glass biting his own reflection which also “bites back.”

“I thought one male was bad enough.”

 During times of hardship in Winter, all the birds come together in a huddle in the available unfrozen water. But sometimes it helps to get a ride from a bigger bird.

“Next stop please.”

A significant sighting this week at rattlechain lagoon- a dead seagull on the causeway path. There isn’t too much one can draw from this, but it has been noted nonetheless.

black headed possibly?

Bird numbers, as we have commented on this blog before are now miniscule compared to the pre works of last year. There remains no explanation as to why those birds which we are supposed to believe left the site of their own free will have not returned, and equally why they have not been noted to have arrived anywhere else in the numbers that departed.

60+ coot pre February 2103 -now lucky to see 3.

Moorhen in the dozens pre February 2013, ditto for coot.

Swans always came and went (if they were not lifted off there before or died from p4 poisoning which the company tried to cover up) in sporadic numbers.

Canada geese- always usually roosting at the site at night and flying out each morning. This is still occurring- but again in far less numbers than before. 50+ were typically present on the site pre 2013 works.

Mallard numbers are also well down on previous spring counts. I have seen a maximum of 12 this year, though this is usually less during the bulk of the day.

Other visitors such as tufted duck occasionally appear.

There are a pair of little grebe on the site currently.

The only real survivors appear to be the crows on the North embankment, and assorted species of seagull which occupy the causeway path.

It is good news that less birds are visting this hazardous waste site- amen to that, don’t get me wrong- but where did they all go- on that I am a little more suspicious. And more importantly no conclusions can be drawn about the “success” of the capping works regarding fewer observed dead birds at the site- which no doubt the site owners and their backers (with the silent F) would like people to believe is the case.

The rather deserted Rattlechain lagoon this week-a place where nothing wants to live