Further to the recent new sign in the North East corner of the site, the North West is now represented with another identical one.

And another at the main entrance.

Other additions include a warning sign on each of the life buoys, including the one on the pier.

“DANGER DO NOT ENTER WATER.  

DEEP WATER

RISK OF DROWNING”

It’s not clear to whom these signs are addressed given that they face inwards towards the pool and not outwards to potential trespassers. The seagulls or squirrels perhaps?

Additional razor wire notices have also gone up. Something tells me someone has been over the fence or tried to. It’s all starting to get AW BOMBS of a sudden. What are the Oldbury rogues up to?

It’s been pretty quiet at the lagoon of late. Not much in the way of wildfowl, so observations are confined to things around the site.

Recently some curious items have turned up in John’s Lane.

At the main gate, a bizarre still life. I should perhaps enter it into some pretentious art competition. “Rattlechain child” I could see it might stand a chance of winning.

The odd digging on the north embankment has also been covered up. Perhaps it was the bottle diggers returning after all?

As if to emphasise this, a new sign has appeared fixed to the metal railings at the North East corner of the site, giving a handy reminder of the nature of the contents contained within.

“HAZARDOUS”

It’s just a bit late that they finally want to admit this however. Whoever was tasked with putting it up obviously had a convenient prompt on the reverse as to where to stick it.

Got that!

Another useful prop that has turned up is a Jerry mouse Microscope. There are quite a few things to look at quite closely at this site, not least the odd Tom that occasionally turns up.

Site Notice Board

We know they have

“NO RESPONSIBILITY”

The saga of licensing of this site can be read HERE. The current state of affairs can be read HERE.

Whoever holds the keys may well choose to keep the site’s secrets under lock and key, but we will continue to put their site, and their activities under the lens of scrutiny that they deserve.

Further to the previous blog post concerning stinky Robinson Brothers and their odour and pollution problems comes a guest blog written by former local Sandwell councillor Jayne Wilkinson. She has kindly allowed me to publish it here and as a resident of the Langley area where the Albright and Wilson/Rhodia/Solvay plant is based, she has first hand experience of what happens when a major incident breaks out at a large chemical/industrial factory. In this case it was “Alcohols Limited”, based in Crosswell’s Road.

Jayne recalls:

“I remember the Alcohols ltd chemical Incident as clearly as if it happened Yesterday. It was a usual Monday morning , at the time I was working at home on some casework , the date was 26/11/2012, the time of the incident as I recall the initial explosion was roughly 9.58 am , I was on the phone when I heard a terrifying screech that turned into a painful scream. I looked out the window located in my hallway. I saw what looked like a touch of flames radiating from the far corner of the wall of the factory to our house , I couldn’t believe what I was looking at , I cut off the person I was speaking to on the phone and started to shake violently in a fit of panic .

I dialled 999 and was quickly attempting to get the operator to send a fire engine ,I then realised I was only through to the operator , there was a pause and then I was through to the fire service I explained what had happened and insisted we needed a fire engine as fast as physically possible , I put the phone down and ran up stairs to my daughters bedroom which is on the front of the house facing the alcohols factory , I took a photograph , I’ve no idea why , I think I just could not believe what had happened , I was still shaking when I realised I needed to leave the house ,the windows started to making cracking noises and the heat was very intense radiating through the front of the house , the dogs were panicking and so was I , aimlessly running round the house thinking what should I do I’d never experienced such fear …

I’d been in my pj’s cause I was dying my hair so was not in appropriate clothing to evacuate and my hair dye was still on my head , burning my scalp at this point ….
I ran into the back bedroom throw some clothes on and proceeded to the back garden leaving everything as it was just before the explosion , I didn’t have time to think ,I opened the front door but was forced back into the house by the heat of the explosion , I ran to the back into the house then ran into the back garden realising at the point when I reached the back gate I was trapped , all I could hear was the booming noises of barrels exploding , shooting up into the air , I looked up at the house from the far end of the garden and all I could see was the house appearing to shake with every loud banging noises a black plume of smoke filled the air densely from the site of the explosion …

There was a voice at the back of the gate saying “I’ll get you out don’t worry” , at this point I was crying uncontrollably saying ‘I’m can’t get out I’m going to die , help me I need to save my dogs’ , I ran back to the house from the back gate and got a bunch of keys to attempt to open the padlock on the gate but my hands were uncontrollably shaking , the voice at the back of the gate was shouting move away from the gate ” I’ll kick it in ” I shouted. “You can’t its double bolted its impossible”; at this point I felt I was trapped and I was going to die .

As it was becoming a matter of urgency that myself and my 2 dogs needed to escape the garden I pulled at the trellis fencing and found the strength to rip it apart from the corner , two hands reached over encouraging me to escape , I passed my 2 little dogs out first as they were both petrified then I clambered out and collapsed in a heap crying uncontrollably as I was scared from my traumatic experience .
In the days that followed it was becoming apparent that all the residents in the street and neighbouring streets close to the incident site location were going to be evacuated out our homes for longer than over night , I believe the fire raged for 2 and a half days or round about that time before it was completely put out .

On the day no one communicated with residents on what to do, we all heard word of mouth that we were to report to the Moat farm Junior school at the top of Brookfield’s road , so that we could all be accounted for as affected residents .
We did as instructed, however when we left we were shocked to see people simply standing around the affected site .

During the aftermath we were informed we could go to our homes and collect our belongings. There was no indication from anyone how long we would be evacuated or even if our properties would be safe from looters , we did as instructed but were given no instruction where we should go , I stayed at my mothers with my daughter and my husband and the dogs stayed at his parents .

No one was telling us anything it was as if no one knew anything and could not tell us anything . I’d heard some horror stories of people stating they’d been threatened with arrest if they would not evacuate their homes , one women at the make shift ” rescue centre ” was crying cause the police would not let her rescue her sick dog who was dying of cancer , another said no one helped her rescue her sick husband , it was all very distressing .

We also heard looting had been going on so as you can imagine our front door had been kicked in by the police even though they’d been assured there was no one in our house , the house and its contents were exposed to potential looters as there was no street lighting it would make our local street a target .

Melted

In the days that followed we were allowed back home to access the devastation our home was melted from the front and our family car was also in a state of being melted as were other neighbours , I had to cope for others , my neighbour was extremely distressed after the experiences we all had during that period of time , we all supported each other with very little information being given to us .

We spent Christmas 2012 without windows having them boarded up , waiting for them to be replaced , my neighbours homes nearest the heat of the fire were also in the same situation , we insisted that when the windows were replaced our neighbours got theirs replaced first as we felt it right to support others over ourselves as we’d always been local community volunteer workers and we always thought of others before ourselves .
We felt isolated and unsupported at times by the failures of information sharing , we were affected but felt at times an afterthought, we still don’t know what’s going on at the factory .”

After the incident Sandwell Council as a local authority published a post fire incident which can be read below.

Crosswells_Road_Fire_Post_Incident_Report_v1_0

According to the aim of the report

“As part of Sandwell Council’s Emergency Management Policy a post incident review is carried out after every significant event involving the council. This report is designed to capture all of the learning points, to ensure that if a similar incident occurs in the future the council will be able to demonstrate, through an improved response, that lessons have been learned. In keeping with the expectations of Government and the requirements of the Council under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 the lessons learned report will include recommendations which, if approved, form the basis of an action plan.”

Basically it amounts to what a great job they think they did on the day, though as Jayne has pointed out, this was a different view to residents actually affected. The future of the factory appears to be clouded, and like the Trinity Street plant it remains within the so called “consultation zone” which prohibits certain types of development from taking place near to such permitted industrial sites BECAUSE OF THE HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES CONTAINED WITHIN. . Whereas the residents in such areas are largely in the dark as to what is really going on behind the industrial shutters, such companies can continue to operate anonymously , only revealing themselves when the next major incident comes along.

DO YOU LIVE NEAR TO A SIMILAR CHEMICAL/ INCINERATOR/ QUARRY/ WASTE TIP SITE SUCH AS THIS OR RATTLECHAIN LAGOON? HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN A SIMILAR MAJOR INCIDENT? WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR STORY AND YOU CAN TELL IT HERE. PLEASE DROP US A LINE.

WE NEED TO MAKE THESE PEOPLE AWARE THAT THE VICTIMS OF INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION HAVE A VOICE.

It’s not all about Albright and Wilson/Rhodia/Solvay. There are other chemical manufacturers in the Sandwell area  whom have become well acquainted with their neighbours, but  not particularly for good neighbourly reasons. Oldbury has its Trinity Street behemoths manufacturing phosphorus whereas Greets Green has Robinson Brothers, “organo-sulfur synthesis and high pressure hydrogenation”. They are  another member of the Chemical Industries Association Lobby group.

If it was said of Albright and Wilson that they “produced the flavour in cheese and onion crisps”, “stinky Robbos” could be said to produce the odour that goes into a well brewed Curry fart. For the Phoenix Street pungenters have an odour management problem that could knock out a rat wearing breathing apparatus 100 miles away if the wind was blowing in the right direction.

Long suffering Greets Green residents are gassed by a smell so horrifically bad it defies rationale description in the English Midlands vernacular. Imagine burnt rubber, aniseed, a slice of vanilla mixed with human shit and you begin to arouse the flavour being belted out. A mix of sweet and sour, but always grotesque in bouquet- that’s stinky Robbos; not to be confused with the barley water manufacturers but chemical manufacturers.

It all started small, as they all do don’t they? Established for the distillation of coal tar and Ammonium by the brothers Grime in 1869, we have William Leckie Robinson, James Henry Robinson And Charles R Robinson. The map below from 1902 confirms the site was then known as Ryders green Tar Works.

Obviously they endured well into the 20th century as the site grew along with their chemical products. When site licensing came into existence in the mid 1970’s, they like Albright and Wilson had to suddenly apply to carry on pumping.

A long running wrangle emerged between the stinkies and West Midlands county council, the licensing authority over two licences that they had applied for, namely SL173 and SL174. These two boreholes had been sunk in 1930 and 1964 for waste disposal and an incinerator and the dopey county council issued them in August 1978. Despite this the national coal board (NCB) objected that the voids belonged to them. One borehole was in use before 1938 but the other did not have NCB consent. The stinkies were denied the second licence but appealed successfully  Ref WD/APP/HE/77, given that the NCB could not produce evidence that the voids had been left as the result of coal mining.

Planning permission was not needed and a change of use had not been necessary as the whole site was used as a chemical works. What transpired over time in connection with these two licences is not so clear, but the stinkies have been involved in a very high profile pollution incident where a record fine was brought against them by British Waterways.

Stinky Robbos is located next to The Birmingham Canal navigations.

The incident in question occurred in January 2002. A quite disgusting black treacle began to stretch down the eight locks, through Great Bridge and then rampantly express its loins through Moxley and beyond as far as Darlaston along the Walsall Canal. In its wake dead fish, thousands of them were left behind. In the other direction it also went towards Black Lake- how ironic.

The local paper at the time were full of it. The Environment agency goons were also full of it, spouting their usual bullshine about lack of evidence, and dismissing local people who know their environment’s better than the shitheads from Fradley Park. Gradually it became clear that Stinky Robbos were in the frame, but the dirty blighters tried to deny it.

Express and Star article 18/1/2002

Express and Star article 28/1/2002

But stinky Robbos were guilty as charged, and this time they had to cough up dough instead of rubber. It was the third biggest fine of the year according to the Environment agency.

The canal in this area is heavily contaminated, and there is not much doubt as to the source. On one occasion it turned carrot orange. Obviously this was a different form of iron brew that you would not want to taste. Robinson’s own?

Ryders Green Lock number 1 2007. Picture courtesy Roy Martin

Today the West Brom stinkers proudly boast

“We are committed to the prevention of pollution and in particular we will:

• Reduce all of the impacts we have on our local communities; particularly odours and noise”

There is rumoured to be a residents liason group, yet unlike the wind it appears strangely hidden, impenetrable by even  Mossad. That patron saint of lost Sandwell causes, Robert Stanley Badham (ex councillor) was a player on it at one time I believe. But for the long suffering Greets Green gassed, they get not as much as a “passing bell” of an annual calendar from the stinkers.

You can leave your hat on

AND ADD TO THIS , STINKY ROBBO’S HAVE BEEN FINED FOR THEIR STINKY SMELLS.

HERE IS ANOTHER REPORT.

YOU DIRTY STINKERS ROBBOS, PUT A RUDDY CORK IN IT!!!!

Recently in the now landscaped North embankment some curious diggings have emerged. Although this is probably some form of “monitoring” that the site owners claim to be undertaking, the fact that they appear to have exposed the surface of the contaminated material beneath the covering and cap layer would appear to defeat the object.

Badgers?

Whoever has been digging out the bank, they appear to have unearthed some more bottles and crockery.

This was what was going on when they first laid the material.

September 2013

Just a quick heads up on an interesting new page put up last week. Certainly an eye opener regards white phosphorus and the manner in which the polluters of the Rattlechain site thought it appropriate to dump their various safety experiments down Tividale way.

There are many chemistry books available detailing the properties and nature of the elements including elemental phosphorus. Some of the more interesting science based articles tend to be harder to find, and are usually older in nature. Such sources give a less biased corporate presentation of the element and its financial uses for companies like Albright and Wilson to the consumer. We do know however that at the outbreak of World War Two, Albright and Wilson were the only UK producers of the chemical.

Before the horrors of that war, an excellent article can be found in a periodical entitled “The Popular Science Educator”, edited by Charles Ray. A range of scientific articles, well written and brilliantly illustrated appear. Number 21 in the series published February 20th 1936 ,that we have sourced contains three pages of phosphorus and we have scanned them below.

Perhaps the most telling revelation in the article is the name of the phosphate ore used to produce the non natural white phosphorus.

“THE NAME APARTITE COMES FROM A GREEK WORD MEANING “TO DECEIVE” AND WAS GIVEN IN ALLUSION TO THE MISTAKE WHICH EARLY MINEROLOGISTS OFTEN MADE RESPECTING THE NATURE OF SOME OF ITS VARIETIES.”

Some stand out quotes are revealed below, and we give some comment on them in context to events that would unfold over the next 70 years.

The article presents the natural uptake and need for plants and animals to receive phosphorus through its related compounds, but makes a very clear distinction concerning the elemental form.

“WHITE PHOSPHORUS IS INSOLUBLE IN WATER, BUT IT WILL DISSOLVE READILY IN ABOUT FOUR PARTS BY WEIGHT OF CARBON DISULPHIDE, AND IT ALSO DISSOLVES IN ETHER, BENZENE AND TURPENTINE.

FROM SUCH A SOLUTION IT CRYSTALLISES AND IS THEN SOMETIMES CALLED OCTAHEDRAL PHOSPHORUS. IN THIS FORM IT IS EXCEEDINGLY POISONOUS, LESS THAN 0.15 OF A GRAMME BEING A FATAL QUANTITY.”

It should be pointed out that just 5 years later, Albright and Wilson would be producing such a mixture using dissolved p4 in benzene- over 7 million glass bottles full otherwise known as AW BOMBS.

“WHITE OR COLOURLESS PHOSPHORUS IS VERY FLAMMABLE AND WILL BURN AT ABOUT THE TEMPERATURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. THAT IS WHY IT HAS TO BE PRESERVED AND HANDLED UNDER WATER, AND IT MUST NEVER BE TOUCHED WITH THE HANDS.”

The different varieties of phosphorus are outlined, as well as the process of white phosphorus production, from the old way using animal bones to the “new” method of the electric furnace, that would be used for war purposes at Oldbury and thereafter. We have looked at this method from a 1950’s Albright and Wilson pamphlet HERE.

The final page does appear to be very much early PR of the match industry, and one wonders to what extent Charles Ray may have been involved or influenced by this emerging corporate entity. Talk of match factories in “civilised countries” is bizarrely juxtaposed with the revelation

“Phosphorus is much used as a poison for vermin, and it is also employed in the preparation of bronzes and for hardening metals.”

It would be another 27 years before this uncivilised use , very often used for murderous purposes was banned under the Animal Cruel Poisons Regulations. We have looked at this HERE.

“DURING THE GREAT WAR IT WAS MUCH EMPLOYED IN INCENDIARY BOMBS AND GRENADES, AND IT WAS ALSO USED FOR MAKING SMOKE-SCREENS.”

This is a chillingly ominous quote, and the author could perhaps not envisage such dramatic irony of what was to come. The production of white phosphorus during the second world war would eclipse anything on the scale of World War One.

In conclusion take an innocuous looking rock and adapt it into a weapon of war, shaped by furnaces of man made design to destroy life. If phosphorus was needed by animals to survive, the elemental form is not necessary at all for man’s survival- except to the corporate industry like Albright and Wilson that profited from war.

Clouds of phosphorus pentoxide disguising the burning unnatural element are also a metaphor for the dissembling political, military and corporate protection of producing this vile man made creation of pure evil. Hiding it under water or sand only mirrors their blind faith in believing that it is “safe” by diverting it out of public gaze.

Of those who have deceived to protect this element, and more perversely the economic prosperity of producing it, one wonders if their graves are lead lined and filled with sand. It would be a fitting epitaph to be buried like white phosphorus if they were.

Of late, time has had to be diverted away from matters Rattlechain and everything else, including rescuing birds due to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council’s clandestine cull of Canada geese.

No sooner were Rhodia supposedly trying to prevent any more birds being poisoned by white phosphorus, so SMBC were plotting to do away with several dozen from Victoria park Tipton, and Dartmouth Park West Bromwich. It has not gone unnoticed that these two events may well be related, if not directly then indirectly, as a result of the revelation that birds from Rattlechain could quite easily fly out having swallowed a sub- lethal amount of P4 and then die outside of the site. Perhaps this rattled a few at Sandwell Council, and they wanted rid. It would also have got rid of a few birds being found poisoned during the dredging phase of the 2013 works. Conspiracy theory- you decide?

A dead goose at Rattlechain lagoon and its pining mate. This goose was found to have ingested toxic white phosphorus in the sediment and been “systemically poisoned” by the chemical company waste.

In any case we continue to campaign for all wildfowl and so enlisted the help of “The park knight” aka Gooseman and submitted a petition to SMBC calling for scrutiny and also a “NEVER AGAIN”.

Gooseman was quite curious when he learned of the issues at Rattlechain, and so during a night flight decided to pay John’s Lane a visit. The dark Lane was deserted, but a ghostly figure was on hand to point him in the right direction. He would have been lost if not for one of the local one headed residents, not yet glowing in the dark.

He continued on dipping under the yellow barrier, no mean feat for a 7′ tall goose.

He observed the hazardous waste sign and the warnings about the dangers that the site posed, but unlike his fallen comrades he was able to read English.

The metal railings clanked in the night wind, as above the razor wire encampment warned of “DANGER”.

I’m not going in there thought Gooseman. He said a little prayer and lit a candle to remember those that had died. He also noted the company responsible for the massacre of wildlife at the site. They accepted “NO RESPONSIBILITY” for trespassers, including birds like himself.

There has been of late very little activity at Rattlechain lagoon. Certainly the birds appear to have deserted the site almost entirely. This makes the “environmental improvements” touted by those undertaking work at the site which commenced nearly two years ago ring rather hollow.

This week however saw the return of some of Rhodia/Solvays contractors, obviously carrying out another monitoring exercise.

Putting the boat out

As the plucky Heyrman trio went out towards the beach area, ERM guy did another firework code experiment at the smaller lagoon. Funny now how they are monitoring for release of dangerous chemicals rather looking for the ones in the sediment that their sponsors were so  deft at denying were in their toxic soup and poisoning birds.

When we first drew attention to the bird mortality issue at the site, Rhodia were more interested in “bird deterrence”- some of the wild options for this are shown below from this report.

In this subsequent “bird deterrence” cunningly disguised as “environmental improvements” by their other contractor, they do appear to have at last succeeded, so well done- congratulations- though we don’t know what chemicals they may have added to the bathwater to put wildfowl off staying there- would not be surprised at all- they added aluminium sulphate previously to lower the ph allegedly.

So this blog is officially now 2 years old, and will continue into the foreseeable future, learning and uncovering the deceptions of the past. The names on the gates may change, but the filthy stench of Albright and Wilson continues to be stored under the water, and even sometimes beyond its boundaries.

There has been much rot written and broadcast about remembering the 1st world war, for some reason due to the roundness of the year 100.  The start of the hostilities between a group of aristocrats belonging to the same royal dynasty may well be a memorable marker in history, but we have been bombarded with programmes, ceramic poppies and advert tales galore and we are only in year one of the commemorations. Most of it is in aid of selling something on the back of it, and quite frankly I’ve had enough of “remembrance” , in fact it’s starting to piss me off totally.

A media and political elite appear to cast anyone who does not support tales of warmongering as unpatriotic , and their mantra now borders on religious fervour to the point of crafted ceremony involving marches, parades, unveiling of plaques, planting of trees, remembrance services- no longer a twice a year event, but a 24/7 365 day a year  industry. Always the victors get to write the story of the war, most often for politicians to con young men into fighting their foreign wars under the recruiting sergeant  “HERO”.

I have looked on this blog about much of the trite rubbish written by Albright and Wilson apologists concerning their Second World war record, and exaggerated importance, but there is another whole earlier chapter in the history of the company concerning their production of weapons in the 1914-18 conflict. We will look at this in the future perhaps.

The 1st world war was a waste of lives, and  was nothing to do with freedom nor fighting tyranny- that is the victor’s narrative.  In the aftermath, the victims continued after the hostilities ended- shell shock , gassed victims and even those shot for cowardice, totally forgotten till well into the 20th Century. But there were other victims and haunting stories of those who never went to war at all, but for whom the war came home to kill and maim them.  One event in the Tividale area, is less well known or commemorated than tales of “packing up your troubles in your old kit bag” and rows of indistinguishable gravestones.

The best telling of it can be read HERE  amongst many other industrial accidents in the black country area. But this was not really an “accident” at all but manslaughter on the part of John Knowles, whose enterprise of avarice saw young girls employed to break up wartime rifle ammunition. The pollution aspect of this was bad enough, that  individuals were exposed to such toxic materials without any ppe, but the notion that the spent material was just dumped into the canal beggars belief. One wonders if some of it may well still be there!

This conman and child killer was one of many rogues that exploited child labour. 19 died that day in a massive explosion, the war had returned from the fields of France and rocked Tividale and Tipton, robbing its youth. A blue plaque in Groveland Road marks the area near to the factory and a memorial in Tipton Cemetery records the loss and the ages of those that perished.

2 Kings 4:26

Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.