Asking for more… information please
Recently it was revealed that the January 2009 fire at the Trinity Street factory had resulted in a guilty admittance from the company that inherited the discredited French Rhodia outfit. Further to this the current site manager even felt obliged to apologise in the local press as part of a hasty PR exercise damage limitation, even though he did not even work at the site till three years after the toxic barrage inflicted on the Oldbury area!
What wasn’t reported was that his predecessor and long term Albright and Wilsonite John Hamnett departed to run the companies smaller operation in Halifax. PERHAPS HE SHOULD HAVE MADE THE APOLOGY? Then there is long term Health and Safety and Environment director Tom Dutton, who is still there at Oldbury.
A press release by the agency reveals some new information of relevance.
“The dangerous gas was phosphorus and phosphine which, upon contact with air, spontaneously ignited to produce phosphorous pentoxide. This reacted with the moisture in the air to produce a mist of phosphoric acid which drifted to a densely populated area.”
This is what I stated happened in a previous blog. It was of course WHITE PHOSPHORUS.
“An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident, which occurred at Trinity Street, Oldbury on 2 January 2009, found that a welded steel bar (‘rodder’) failed at the weld and broke in two. One piece fell back and the other piece pulled clear, leaving an opening through which the dangerous substance escaped.”
The HSE investigation was ridiculously protracted for over seven years, but throughout this time I have been requesting the outcome of their investigation. For many years they have spun out answering this request stating that a prosecution was still possible or active and therefore this could not be prejudiced. This week I got a reply which stated that they would not be releasing the report, but for different reasons.
According to Kay Brookes of the Executive, whom I have encountered previously in complaints about rattlechain, and involving exactly the same substance that they could not contain at their factory, the report is too large to process.
There are reportedly over 1500 records, 25 witness statements….etc etc. I will of course be challenging this to extract what I think is most relevant. There are other cited absolute exemptions under the FOI/EIR Act which are frankly ludicrous such as safeguarding “National security”.
Brookes is quoted in the HSE press release as stating
“This case should serve as a warning to other companies dealing with harmful substances that they need to get their processes absolutely right, in order to ensure the safety of the public, if they don’t they will face the consequences.”
Erm… the consequences in this case of a fine of less than £500,000 for a company which according to their website made net sales of 12.4 billion Euro in 2015 is absolutely nothing. Oh, and they have been reported to The European Commission- they must be quaking in their Brussels boots.
In the same week as The Government revealed that FOI would be “protected” , this is a clear reminder that protecting the “secrets” of corporate industrial terrorises rather than allowing the public the right to know exactly what is on their doorstep is still unfortunately the way of the civil service. As my experiences with the Trinity Street behemoth in its changing two face state has shown- they answer very little when asked, and never a straight answer.
This decision however comes as little surprise to me, especially considering Rattlechain lagoon where industrial military waste dumped there from the past was poisoning birds. The numerous agencies involved with this fiasco including the HSE tried to cover that up as well, but failed.
I would also hope that the information revealed on this website to date has damaged “national security” / corporate protections and the cover ups of the parasite Albright and Wilson empire, whose families operated in a privileged tandem with UK Government agencies for many years. They enjoyed special protection whilst poisoning Oldbury.
People should know that it is not the unknown “terror” that should be feared but the chemical terror that operates on their doorstep. An industrial release could occur again tomorrow, and all you will know about it is when a siren goes off and out come the police and fire brigade. Oh yes and don’t forget, human error and chemical release dodgy dealing practices can always be blamed on “Rodders.”
C’est Magnifique- Trinity Street.