What Lies Beneath Rattlechain Lagoon?

Incredible to believe that it has been four years since this blog was first started and the long thought buried secrets of an Oldbury chemical company and its toxic tip began to leak on the internet after decades of fake smoke cover.

Back at the start of 2013 there were works planned to start to install a geotextile membrane in the larger lagoon and we attended an open day event where Rhodia and their contractors tried to spin their “improvement works” to local residents.

Of course after 14 years of trying to get to what was causing the bird deaths, we were extremely sceptical about anything they were trying to peddle. We still are.

The works were tailored to suit rhodia’s closure plan for the site, a legal requirement which has seen a slight alteration to their existing hazardous waste site licence.

The lagoon itself has certainly undergone visual changes above the surface, but retains the feature of “what lies beneath”. Gone are the reed beds where many dying birds gasped their last desperate breaths and which became their final resting place. Gone are the pontoons and discharge pipes where Albright and Wilson and Rhodia poisoned the environment and wildlife with their cheap and unsafe disposal method.

Wildfowl rarely visit the site now, and the odds of seeing a swan on there appear to be at there lowest since I started monitoring wildfowl 20 years ago. But too late for the many that perished, and the prospect of whatever transpires with what happens in and around this site still continues to threaten the entire area with an inevitable quick cheap fix solution, such as filling it all in with foundry sand.

Whatever the future, and though the technology of doing so may change, it will be recorded for posterity, because the camera never lies.

To the victors the spoils- that is the true fortune that can be made from war. At the end of the second world war, the so called “allies” who were not allied for long ransacked Germany looking for anything that could be found of future interest. Rockets and germ warfare were the most sort after Nazi artefacts that “the allies” would spend the next 50 years competing against one another in the laboratory fields of war, but German science in general at this point in history was heavily studied. A particularly interesting document is one which I have obtained and reproduced in full scans below.

It is a British Intelligence sub- committee report no 562  into a tour of two German phosphorus industry factories at Bitterfeld and Piesteritz. It is dated from 1946 when a party of operatives from The ministry of supply visited the area held by Russian forces between March 12th-April 3rd. The two factories appear to have been given the codenames 221b (I.G Farben ,Bitterfeld), and C22/3437 Bayerrische Stickstoffe AG, Piesteritz.)

It deals with the production of white phosphorus, from which we learn that the factories toured were the only  ones producing the chemical weapon in the Reichland. Therefore any incendiary bombs falling on civilians during raids in Britain, and weapons killing British forces would have been produced at these factories. There are also detailed reports into the production of Red phosphorus, phosphorus sesquisulphide, phosphorus chlorides and phosphoric acid. All of these would become commercially and financially important to Albright and Wilson in Britain and abroad following the end of hostilities. Albright and Wilson, you may recall were the only UK producers of white phosphorus during WW2, and so it would be interesting to those touring the factory with an insight into the former, as to what their opposite numbers had concocted.

We learn that the Bitterfeld plant only produced 3% of WP during the war with the main operation being at Piesteritz.

One of the most interesting aspects of this report comes in the revelation of special safety and health precautions.

“The compounds Phosphorus Trichloride, pentachloride and oxychloride affect the mucous membranes, particularly of the eyes, the bronchoial tubes and the lungs. Where the vapour of the products can escape there are provided goggles and respirators…

The Manufacture is under medical supervision which takes place monthly. This involves particularly examination of the teeth and medical treatment is carried by the manufacturer, thus tooth brushes and dental treatment are provided free of charge.

Workers’s baths are arranged daily at the end of the shift and soap and towels are provided. There are also provided without charge, working clothing, shoes with wodden soles and gloves. During the war the employees were provided with heavy workers rations.”

If all this is sounding rather familiar  with the way in which Albright and Wilson would openly boast about providing similar for its workers post war, it is perhaps not that surprising given the name of the man in charge of the tour on behalf of the ministry of supply- one Alfred H. Loveless– chief engineer of Albright and Wilson!

OUTED- British and Albright and Wilson agent- Alf Loveless

Conveniently the document makes no comparisons between the state of the German phosphorus machine and their capabilities compared to that which had been operating at Trinity Street. We also cannot determine what Loveless and his colleagues took back with them except the detailed drawings and insights into a rivals work, but oh what a gift it must have been for Loveless to wander into a factory where he and the company he worked for could be provided with future ideas, patents and technology which The British company could steal for their own. It would be very naïve to paint this as supposition, as what had he really been invited there for under direction of the British Government?

These Nazi works, having killed thousands of soldiers and British civilians being exploited commercially by a so called “Quaker company”- the reality of this cult perhaps can now be seen for what it truly is- a giant falsity of profiting directly from war- so long as you are on the winning side to see it. But it is also one which operated hand in hand with the British establishment and particularly its military machine. Whilst all talking loudly about “PEACE, they whispered “war” in laboratory asides.

Loveless is mentioned on a few occasions within 100 years of phosphorus making by Richard Threlfall, the centenary history of the Oldbury Company, though he does not of course reveal in this book written only 5 years after the tour of the German factory as to how Albright and Wilson potentially directly gained from the Nazi’s post war. He is instead more interested in tails of dering do involving how Loveless and others made AW bombs containing white phosphorus and other weapons a reality. Of course we now know how useless these were, but effective in killing grazing animals and poisoning the environment for decades to come.

Alf Loveless second from right and how Albright and Wilson benefitted

Loveless also appears to have written other papers for BIOS as field team leader including German production of potassium permanganate at Bitterfeld and sodium sulphide at Wolfen, but he would later become a director of the Albright and Wilson PLC company and further into the future a player in the disastrous Long Harbour venture, where his engineering expertise would not be so wonderfully executed.

The two sites visited would soon fall under the iron curtain of East Germany, later to be reunified but still a centre of German chemical industry. Bitterfeld today appears to have undergone a similar parallel fate to that of Oldbury, except the latter has yet to see any real transformation. It is now in the grip of Bayer, who of course happen to be a close chemical European partner of Solvay- so you could say they all owe something to the Nazi chemical enterprise.

The boons for Albright and Wilson from Loveless seeing how other derivatives of phosphorus were produced in Germany by Britain’s main rival cannot be underestimated given how Oldbury changed its entire operations at Trinity Street after the war. How much of what Loveless saw in Germany and how much inspiration he ripped off from it to profit Albright and Wilson may be called “speculation”, but it is something that fans of this company would no doubt like to see buried. It is also something which their workers could also be said to have been fooled into believing that this technology was something “made in Britain”. Could it be that the manufacturing of white phosphorus and its derivatives at Oldbury in the latter part of the 20th Century should be rewritten “Made in Britain, inspired by Nazi’s”?

I have scanned the main contents of the report below, but there is an interesting appendix detailing individual components of the phosphorus furnace and machinery which together with the detailed diagrams could offer a DIY guide in how to build a phosphorus war machine. Written in German, the inventory may well make an interesting collect and build publication in the form of one of those “free binder with part one” titles where you can construct something large out of smaller parts, but I’ll save that one for a future post when I’ve done a bit of translation and had a go at building one myself, out of matchsticks of course 😆  😆

What lies beneath Rattlechain Lagoon started in 2013 shortly before works legally required by the company owning the site commenced to minimally satisfy regulator environmental standards. That is the truth of the matter, the only truth, but not the one put forward by the company, or to a large extent the local press who merely printed off regurgitated statements by Rhodia/Solvay concerning “pool clean up”.

Shepherds warning

Much has been written lately about “post truth” and “fake news” , and this is a real problem for bloggers and whistle blowers when you are to a large extent up against the spin of public relations bullshitters who have similar contacts within journalistic circles to further disseminate their manipulated truth to a wider gullible audience . Add to this toxic mixture political spin doctors who manipulate truth, and there appears to be little that can be decanted between truth and lies. So called “fact checking” websites are also tainted by political funding and with questionable staff writers with political affiliations and  are not “facts” at all but more spin.

As we end 2016, we are coming to the end of probably the weakest and most impotent US presidents and administrations that has ever existed. Mainstream media was kind to Obama, largely on the mere fact of his personal appearance fitting the times, and as has been the case throughout history, this was contrasted with the token bad guy card from which the enlightened “defender of the free” protects those unquestioning and uneducated folks who cannot comprehend such global  instability or threats from abroad. In truth- there was never ANY threat at all- except from that within. We are little different in status from what is reputed to be taking place from within North Korea, though the West just doesn’t like to question its own systems. This is how political unions work, and the best illustration of how some “outside threat” can be used to keep people in check can be found in the film “the village”.

For years Russia was the great Western villain, and then a whole series of middle east dictators fitted the bill, whilst the Bushes and Clintons ransacked home. The so called “Arab Spring” was a front for squaring up to the most likely  Arab country to develop the bomb- Iran, and one by one the globalists plotted to topple foreign governments like a series of dominoes with the pretence of a “democracy” that their own people have truly never known or enjoyed. Cameron, Merkel, Hollande, Clinton, Obama- the architects of Islamic State. History will not be kind to these evil manipulating war mongering globalist bastards- but we live in a time where they were allowed to get away with it because the BBC , CNN and other “journalists” tailored their rhetoric into false truths to sell to a people who were too ignorant to question it.

When I see  John Kirby, US assistant secretary of State for public affairs,   I see a truly desperate man. Look into his eyes deeply and you can see he knows that the game is now up as the lines grow ever more entrenched on his sanguine vacant staring face, and that his time of spinning yarns is almost past. Worst of all he knows that others without any political allegiance like myself can see it written across his greying physiognomy, because you can hide many things, but never non verbal communication and the tells.

Whatever the future holds with Trump, and it may or may not be worse; probably much worse environmentally, we at least know that it will be different.

Back in the Oldbury microcosm, telling it like it is isn’t something that those at Trinity Street have ever done, especially to their community and employees. On the latter, I largely give up in knowing what it is that has meant so many individuals have pledged their health to a company which gave them little but ill health, but there is something in the air around Langley akin to The Stepford wife syndrome.

A “residents” committee gathers from time to time , possibly summoned like a call to prayer to Trinity Street by the wailing warning sirens, to be treated to factory inspection tours. It has been going on for some time, but on analysis it largely consists of small groups who from time to time have received some financial support from Albright and Wilson/Rhodia/Solvay. Generosity may well buy loyalty, and so does rewriting history when they pay local history groups to write books that can only be described as PR advertising.

Before I started this blog, I was told by a Sandwell council insider that the company “gave money to the council and police”, and I don’t doubt that in the case of Sandwell as they never seem to investigate anything bad associated with this company. Complaints have to be made several times and they appear to “cop a deaf one” over issues of pollution and planning enforcement. They instead look to The environment agency to lead on such matters.

Of course the environment agency at Rattlechain, as well as elsewhere have shown themselves to be unable to detect urine if they were standing in a bath full of their own frozen piss. But they all continue to take it out of someone who is not in the pay of anyone, and for this reason some with very close and cosy connections to Albright and Wilson/Rhodia/Solvaystill proclaim that there is “myth and lies” surrounding rattlechain lagoon. I still fail to see what this really is except their total denial of a truth that is different to the one that they have been fed by money talking to them.

Truth is a drum beat that echoes your heart, and I will continue to write about it for many years to come.

“Kiss me where the sun don’t shine, The past was yours, the future’s mine”

Today’s post is brought to you by the letters

“S” “H”  “I” “T”  “T” again “I” and “P”

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Trinity Street?

Articles published in local newspapers highlighted both the problem of the “unexplained” bird deaths at the time , but also the apparent lack of knowledge by Rhodia to explain the cause of this situation. We now know of course their mysticism to be total disingenuous lies on their part.

Before we were aware of white phosphorus and its toxic effects but suspected there to be poison in the lake, The Sunday Mercury broke what would become the most damning piece on the secret lagoon when a photographer met us on site during a routine tanker dumping. It showed waste being discharged from the pump into the centre of the lake. “Poison probe as swans die in lake.”

It was of course “poison” that was killing the wildfowl, in this instance a banned rat posion deemed “cruel in it’s effect” back in the 1960’s, though regulatory fools appear to have not been able to have made this link after this time, allowing a chemical company to dispose of the waste containing white phosphorus into an open air pool.

We have looked at the PR techniques of the company and lies of then operations manager John Scott HERE

Another important article appeared in the Wolverhampton Express and Star. “Worries over toxin in pool.” Although white phosphorus is a toxicant and not a “toxin” , this article was the first to make a link between the chemical that was poisoning the birds and what was present and accessible to them in the sediment.

Rhodia make little comment on this article, and must have now known that the lid on their “toothpaste” nonsense was nearly about to pop. Of course we now know that the chemical HAD burst into flames on previous occasions at this site. Something else both they and the useless environment agency had failed to tell us at meetings.

At this point we were still not aware of the sites former military links, the lethal toxicity of this chemical, and its proven track record with poisoning wildfowl at other sites. Marianne Walsh of the US Army chemical core of engineers however cited this article in a report for another white phosphorus containing lagoon in the US.  “Remediation of P4 Contaminated Matrices at FMC, Pocatello, Idaho.” Previously she had been involved in the identification of this chemical with other scientists in the deaths of wildfowl at Eagle River Flats– where there is a US army firing range.

Following the first confirmed exposure to poisonous and toxic white phosphorus being ingested by a bird at the site, (after many had shown white phosphorus poisoning symptoms and subsequently died) , another ground breaking Sunday Mercury article poured further problems on the dishonest Oldbury waste dumpers. “LAKE OF DEATH”

This article directly quotes Marianne Walsh who underlines the problems that white phosphorus causes for wildfowl. Both the company and Barrett homes however try to distance the deaths of wildfowl to their operations. Barrett homes did not inform residents about what the lake contained and it should also be noted that the hazardous waste sign, a legal requirement of the site operator was missing during the marketing and sale of these houses on the former sewage works.

It is also worth pointing out that if these articles had never been published which stemmed from our campaign and research to get to the truth about the bird deaths, then rattlechain lagoon and its dark story would have been covered up in the same manner that Rhodia attempted to do in 2013 when they installed a geotextile barrier and sand underneath the water. This legal requirement on their part in order to fulfil basic “closure of the site” has merely just set out to “bury” the story but with all of the poisonous waste and white phosphorus still being there.

It was reported recently that a major fire at “the world’s largest chemical complex” had claimed two lives. The German BASF factory in Ludwigshafen adds to the tally of those who have lost their lives as victims of the chemical industry.

Of course the lobbyist Cefic organisation, of which BASF senior employees are a major part, spins a different line about the safety of such plants.

Under EU legislation this incident will certainly be referred to the European Commission, like the one at Trinity Street . It comes however at a time when lobbyist organisations like Cefic are continuing to spin their ideas into EU policy. The recent EU proposals on lobbying has been seen as widely disappointing in offering a new era of transparency.

Cefic are on the EU register. If you really don’t believe that things in your everyday life are not influenced by lobbyists, then I would urge you to read just the preceding link in just how this one industry has a reputed 72 lobbyists, many of whom enjoy access to the European Parliament premises.

Cefic estimated they spent in the 12 months of 2015 a staggering

10.2 million € on lobbying. 😥 

My sincere condolences to those who have become the latest victims of the chemical industry, but those in Brussels are not doing you any favours.

I’m sure the answer to that question is several, but in this instance I’m referring to a recently dumped pair of pink ones found with other assorted items in one of Oldbury’s top grot spots.

It appears the latest dumper has or had some connection to The University of Wolverhampton judging by incriminating evidence found amongst the untidy pile at the yellow entrance barrier.

Amongst a folder of course notes and hand outs, I found a notepad with the name “Amie” written on it.

Oh and look, an empty postal packet with a full name and address, I wonder who and from what address this little collection arose?

A Miss Amie Dremen of 3 Selborne Road Flat 5 Birmingham B20 2DN. So not even any connection to Sandwell on this occasion?

Amongst a bag of clothes from which I had a good rummage, out came the knickers, and even though they had no name written on them, I would if I were a betting man make an educated guess that they belonged to a uni student living in The Birmingham area.

I’m also fairly confident that the dumper is a little “green fingered” and a fan of “hydroponics”.

I suppose to link the two places together, you could say Out of darkness cometh….. flytipped shite.