Tim Webb, a citizen scientist with a specialist
interest in particle matter and air pollution has described the ‘stink’
produced by Walley’s Quarry in Silverdale as representing one of the most
‘serious’ and ‘important’ incidents he has investigated.
He was one of five experts, all members of a group of
scientists advising the Stop the Stink campaign who addressed a public meeting
held at Knutton Ex-Servicemen’s Club last weekend.
The meeting was chaired by Dr Mick Salt, an
independent expert on pollution who has coordinated the scientific element of
the campaign, including its representation to recent successful court
proceedings.
He outlined the history of the campaign begun in 2019
by local resident Mark Warren, who took initial readings at the site revealing
the scale of the problem and praised Mr. Warren and other campaigners for what
they had achieved, calling it ‘change driven by the community’.
Dr Salt went on to describe the current situation at
the site, there has been a small decline in the hydrogen sulphide believed to be
the cause of the ‘stink’ due to the warm weather over the summer. There is a
strong likelihood of things getting worse over the winter.
Mitigation measures introduced by site owner Red
Industries following inspections by the Environment Agency and the result of
the legal case may bring improvements. However, it was, he said, far from clear
to what extent and as a result the health challenges posed to the communities
of Knutton, and Silverdale looks likely to continue.
Tim Webb, who has monitored the impact of particulate
matter on air quality at sites around the country gave an overview of the data
he had gathered at Silverdale.
His findings, produced by measuring the ‘signature’ of
dust particles released into the air at the quarry showed, he said, that the
concentration of harmful particles varied at different points, meaning the
‘stink’ could be localized and may vary in intensity.
He also suggested that hydrogen sulphide in the air
particles may not be the only issue, sulphur dioxide may also be present.
Although this would need to be confirmed by further investigation.
Air pollution is, he said, a problem that disproportionately
impacts on poorer communities creating what he called ‘air quality inequalities,’
like social and economic ones these have associated health consequences. A
situation made worse by inconsistences between how the UK government, the
European Union, and the World Health Organization define ‘safe’ levels of
pollutants to be in the air.
Dr
Marie-Louise Pilkington, a pharmacist with a background in mental health, spoke
about how when assessing the health impact of the ‘stink’ the Environment Agency
and had been ‘dismissive’ of the experience of people living near to the
quarry.
She
gave details of the mental health impact of living with the ‘stink,’ including
a local resident who described living by the quarry as like being in a
‘nightmare’ and an eight-year-old child found weeping and saying they ‘couldn’t
stand the strain’ any longer by a parent.
The
physical health of people living near to the quarry has also suffered, with 24%
of adults going to see their GP with heath problems caused by the ‘stink’ and
8% having to take time off work as a result. Children also suffered, with 6%
needing to be taken to hospital and 11% needing to be prescribed medication.
These
results were produced by a Health Impact Survey conducted by Dr Pilkington and
her colleagues, all of whom were working on a voluntary basis, and supported by
what she described as ‘strong community engagement.’ The data proved the
existence of a problem Public Health England had initially tried to downplay, a
situation she said she found ‘alarming.’
It was
her intention, she went on to say, for the data gathered to be used to inform
further research and, more importantly, a more agile response from the
authorities.
Steven
Murray, who has been involved with the campaign since March this year and has a
background in biological sciences, spoke about the ‘suffering’ caused by the
‘stench’ from Walley’s Quarry.
It was
though, he said, impossible to close the site immediately, and that to do so
would be a potential ‘disaster.’ What is needed instead is an end to the
dumping of waste containing a range of harmful chemicals he said was truly
‘horrifying’ at the site and for this to be replaced with biodegradable waste
instead.
There
needed, he went on to say, to be a wider dialogue about the amount of waste we
generate as a society and how we dispose of it, current attitudes in this area
were, he said, ‘insane.’
Rules
around recording what goes into landfill sites and policies promoting recycling
were, he said, too weak and often companies were able to bypass them without
much effort. Matters have not been improved by a defunded Environment Agency
moving from a policing role to one that is more focussed on auditing the paper
trail.
The
‘stink’ from Walley’s Quarry has made the communities of Knutton and Silverdale
well known beyond the Staffordshire border in ways they would prefer not to be
and has created health problems that could endure for decades.
A more robust and responsive approach from
bodies such as the Environment Agency and Public Health England will be key to
addressing those problems. Equally necessary though will be a major change in
how we all think about waste and how we dispose of it.
