Recent events in Eastbourne have shown how chemical releases spark widespread media attention and also considerable public concern. A mysterious chemical haze last month appeared to come in from the sea affecting many dozens of people at the beach around the Birling Gap area near to Beachy Head.
Is the coast now clear at Beachy head?
There has been great speculation as to what the source of this mist was and also what chemical was released. Early speculation concerned our “friends” across the channel releasing a chemical “trouser cough” in our direction, but this appears to have been now ruled out with the wind direction being wrong. 😆
Then the theory turned to ships at sea loosing or dumping cargo overboard.
The latest theory concerns wrecked ships being disturbed- in particular a merchant ship sunk by a German mine in the First world war off beachy head called the SS Mira. “Weapons” were reported to be on board, and it is likely that munitions containing hazardous chemicals would over time degrade and corrode, potentially making them more dangerous than when they were first made.
It is of course at this stage, still speculation.
What we do know are the symptom affects and the anecdotal descriptions offered by people affected, who required hospital attention. This is by no means a small scale issue and unfortunately as they do, the emergency services play down such incidents treating us all like little children who cannot handle the truth.
Such incidents were rife during World War two, and unfortunately Government agencies conceal information from us on a regular basis.
This incident is particularly reminiscent of Oldbury’s very own chemical leak involving the release of phosphine gas and associated breakdown products in 2009. The ridiculous investigation which took seven years concluded with a fine for Rhodia/Solvay yet the incident which also affected at least three people who also sort hospital attention for very similar ailments as described in the Beachy head incident got little in the way of investigation. I will be looking in more detail at a recently released less redacted FOI request about this Trinity Street fire in an upcoming blog post.
The symptoms
First hand accounts via social media have described the following
“Everyone’s eyes were streaming and throats sore”
“Eyes running and stinging”
“Breathing problems and chest pain.”
“Vomiting”
From this we can conclude that the chemical is obviously a lachrymator but would it really be feasible for it to have been released from an old wreck, and what circumstances could have led to this?
I decided to travel to the area to survey the scene for myself.
Looking out to sea
What was particularly striking was the total quietness and isolation- absolutely no sound at all.
The lighthouse stood alone , yet perched on the cliff edge a peregrine falcon observed a clear but still hazy day.
There was some gas detected around the pub area. 🙁
At Birling Gap coach tours and plenty of tourists appeared to be enjoying a day out, with some cyclists pounding the miles up the rugged steep pathways.
There are clear reminders as to why this is a notorious suicide spot, and looking over the edge is not for the faint hearted. It also strikes me as odd that there are no real safety measures in place.
Personally I don’t believe the wreck theory, and think it is more likely to be something like this.
Whatever the as yet unidentified gas, here’s what the Public health England say about phosphine poisoning
“Breathing phosphine can cause irritation of the nose, mouth, throat and lungs; headaches, dizziness, stomach pain, sickness and vomiting.”
Is it also possible that the whole thing was an elaborate exercise to test public and particularly media reaction to such a future “terrorist” chemical attack? Was this not something that lay beneath, but something that was dropped from above?
Whoever or whatever was involved, the less the Government agencies fail to conclude a cause , the more likely the known cover up of the truth. Unfortunately their truth is usually all at sea.