Category Archives: Uncategorized

It was certainly the case with their political and civic society “friends” , that the Albright and Wilson families and their company could buy anything or anyone that they wanted in the early part of the Twentieth Century.  This is … Continue reading →

A historic General election revealed a very surprising result in the borough of Sandwell, where West Bromwich East, and West Bromwich West- where both Rattlechain lagoon and the Oldbury chemical factory reside, swapped hands to the Conservatives. Sandwell has been … Continue reading →

“You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). My view of Quakers and Quakerism has unfortunately been largely formed by the investigation into their dealings at Oldbury with chemicals. I’m sure that there are many … Continue reading →

Portishead The Portishead site near Bristol was built to provide increased white phosphorus capacity post war. The location was chosen primarily because of its dockside availability for the receipt of phosphate ore by sea and also adjacent power station and … Continue reading →

  Albright and Wilson’s waste disposal activities did not just extend to pumping toxic slurries and burying drums at their own tips. They also offloaded hazardous waste to some dubious entities involved in “waste disposal”- one of these being “Bluestone … Continue reading →

  When site licensing for waste disposal sites was introduced following The Control of Pollution  Act 1974 , it was hailed as a means of preventing pollution from occurring. It was however a false dawn and an utter failure.  Site … Continue reading →

I have always been a big fan of the website “Captain Ahab’s watery tales”. It is probably the best canal blog around, packed with local history information about lost arms of the BCN canal network and beyond. I have used … Continue reading →

  On Friday, Solvay “tested” their air raid siren alarm, supposedly an implement to warn the general public about an emergency on the site such as a fire or release of chemicals. This annual event receives much publicity in the … Continue reading →

Here are two very contrasting stories which tells you all that you need to know about Albright and Wilson the company and the chemical industry at large. This relates to the decommissioning of the Portishead site near Bristol, where P4 … Continue reading →

It was not only at their disastrous Oldbury factory that deaths occurred due to the direct chemical that their entire operation depended upon. Just two years after the opening of their Portishead factory near Bristol, a white phosphorus explosion killed … Continue reading →