NEWS UPDATE 13 September

The following newspaper article, which appeared in the Brecon & Radnor today, illustrates one of the problems of burial and burning near water courses and people. The Epynt Action Group campaigned from the beginning to try and prevent the environmental disaster which is beginning to unfold.

It is reported in the article that Martin Gregory, Principal Pollution Officer with Powys, is worried about contamination of water near cull, burial or burn sites. He is going to carry out a risk assessment and wants people to report ill-effects! He has already had such information from us and what action did he take? As far back as 19 April our solicitor wrote to Martin Gregory – see copy of letter below article - to report what ill-effects the pyre on the Epynt was having on local people. He also warned of possible contamination of groundwater. Our solicitor asked him to serve notice on the premises to require the burning of carcasses to cease. Surely he should have stopped the burning and carried out a risk assessment at that time. Instead in a reply of 23 April he said that "no statutory nuisances have been established to-date", and he let the burning continue for almost another four months causing even greater pollution. Obviously some monitoring now is better than none, but what can he do about the potential damage to health that has already occurred whether through the water we drink or from the air we breath?

The big problem is that the damage to public health may not be fully known for years to come – cancer and birth defects do not manifest themselves immediately.

WE NEED A PUBLIC ENQUIRY TO FIND OUT WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THIS DEBACLE. HOW MUCH HAS IT COST TO DISPOSE OF 40,000 CARCASSES (33,000 OF WHICH WERE SHEEP AND 7,000 CATTLE OF UNKNOWN AGE)? HOW CAN CONTROLS BE BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM TO STOP SUCH WICKED ACTIONS IN THE FUTURE WHICH APPEAR TO BE BOTH RECKLESS AND NEGLIGENT? FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY AND FOR DEMOCRACY WE NEED TO BRING THE GUILTY TO ACCOUNT.







SITE MONITOR’S REPORT
Friday 7 September 2001

The Site Monitor visited the site between 1.30 pm and 3.00 pm and was accompanied by Gordon Smith, National Assembly representative.

The disinfectant site at the entrance to the range had been moved to a position outside MOD property. Potholes have developed close to the cattle grid which leads to the range and this will need to be repaired and so pads have been moved for this reason.

Roads have been repaired near Dixie’s Corner except for the sections of road by the burial and burn site so those sections of road are still closed to the public.

BURIAL SITE
Examination of this site was again refused by Gordon Smith.

BURN SITE
White suits were worn by Smith and our Monitor and Smith drove his car onto the site. Our monitor again insisted on carrying out her inspection on foot. The screener seen on the last visit had been used since then. Halcrow foreman informed our monitor that the hardcore, which the experimental pyre (A) had been spread out on, had been put through the screener. The stone was going to be kept to be re-used on site (possibly for an airstrip?). Ash, plastic liner and small stones had been removed and it was being hauled in dumpers from the screener to the burial pit pyre (cawl) and then mixed with top layer of soil taken from burn site and added to pyre to be loaded and taken away. Filter drains leading from pyres to main French Drain have been dug up. The main French drain will remain but our monitor failed to get an answer as to why.

Bones were still visible throughout the burn site. A strong odour of decomposed matter and burnt material could be smelt.

Our monitor noticed four slurry tankers full of water near pyre, presumably to carry on dowsing and to dowse down the lorries as they leave site.

Workers were at lunch for the whole period our monitor was on site. They returned as she was leaving and vehicles moved into position to load the ash.

SITE MONITOR’S REPORT
Friday 31 August 2001

The Site Monitor visited the site between 1.30 pm and 3.00 pm and was accompanied by Gordon Smith, National Assembly representative.

BURIAL SITE
Examination of this site was refused by Gordon Smith! He stated that work was finished and there was no reason to check it. Our monitor had wanted to check for carcass remains and plastics that were beginning to show through on recent visits.

(Our monitor has information that the damage to borehole No. 6 was repaired between 20-23rd August – see previous reports. However, she was unable to see this for herself)

From Glyn Foel and Blaenant boundaries, left side of Llewel to Tirabad, tarring of road has commenced covered with a light coating of fines. However, the area near the burial site, is still untouched, and a section of road left side of Dixies Corner is closed for repair. Our monitor believes that the reason the road near to the site is not being repaired is to keep any rights of way near the site closed to the public.

BURN SITE
On arrival at the burn site Smith said there was no reason to put on a white protective suit and wanted to drive straight onto the site. However, our monitor insisted on putting on a white suit. Smith then commenced to drive onto the site. Half way down the site our monitor insisted on getting out of the vehicle to inspect the site on foot. Smith walked along beside our monitor but was unable to answer any questions, for example why were the lagoons closed when they were still dowsing and why was scarified tarmac stacked at the far end of the site ? Smith’s only response was that they had to store it somewhere! Our monitor was concerned because it is classed as controlled waste and would normally be stored or sent to a licensed waste disposal site.

All the lagoons have been levelled off and there were two huge stacks of damaged liner from the lagoons. A screener (to sieve different size stones and dust particles) was also on site. French drains were still in place and most of the area had been scraped over and the majority of ash stained soil had been removed.

Our monitor made her way over to the last pyre (which had come from the burial site (Carwyn’s Cawl)). The mixture was being dowsed ready to load onto a container. The worker was wearing a white suit and only a safety helmet and no mask. The top layer of soil which had been scraped off the ground was being mixed into the pyre which measured 25 yards x 62 yards and was approximately 20-25 feet high. A foreman of this operation informed our monitor that 600 loads of ash of 20 tons per load had left the site. For loading procedure see Monitor’s Report of 27 July.

Dust monitors placed around the site are still in place but our Monitor believes that were they are placed will pick up more dust from the road than from the pyres. In any event we have received no results yet.

Smith returned with his vehicle so our monitor left the site. Our monitor felt that Smith was very unhelpful throughout her visit to the site. He even stated that accompanying our monitor on site was a waste of his time because he felt that the work had been carried out to his satisfaction! As he is unable to answer the simplest of questions, exactly what are his qualifications to evaluate such a site? As regards his time, is he not being paid out of our taxpayer’s money but who compensates us for all our valuable time spent on this disaster which could have been avoided if Carwyn Jones and the Assembly had listened to us in the first place?