Toxic waste: is our health in danger?

by Andrew Green

Disgusting smells and clouds of flies come off the landfill site at Parkwood and into adjacent houses - but does this mean the site is a danger to health? It’s difficult to make a direct connection between local health problems and the landfill site, but we do know that people living nearby suffer from health problems which could be caused by waste dumped there. So we need more information about what’s there, how it’s handled, and whether it’s being transferred off the site into our homes and our bodies. What’s dumped at Parkwood? As we wrote in the last Messenger, large quantities of waste including toxic waste are brought in every day, not just from Sheffield but from other parts of the country. The toxic element includes plastics such as PCBs and vinyl chloride, asbestos, dioxins and heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. The bottom ash produced by the incinerator at Bernard Road was described by RABID (Residents Against Bernard road Incinerator Dust) as a ‘toxic cocktail’. The incinerator does not always work efficiently, so some of what it’s supposed to burn remains in the ash. Incineration concentrates heavy metals in the ash, and this, classified as hazardous, goes straight to Parkwood. Added to this is unsorted municipal waste and commercial waste, including medical waste, possibly including body parts. Parkwood Ltd spray hundreds of gallons of insecticide (another pollutant) to deal with flies, but this has not prevented swarms from coming off the site. Flies can transfer disease. The substances dumped at Parkwood can cause numerous health problems if inhaled or ingested, including cancers, reproductive disorders, birth defects, heart and respiratory disorders. · Research published in medical journal The Lancet last August showed babies are more likely to suffer from serious birth defects such as spina bifida and heart malformations if their mothers live close to toxic waste landfill dumps. · There is an unexplained high incidence of respiratory disorders in the area (see article on opposite page). · Residents living near the landfill site believe there is an abnormally high occurrence of cancers locally. Is it possible that dangerous substances dumped at Parkwood could contaminate the surrounding environment and actually cause these diseases? The smell indicates gas of some kind comes from the site. Dust and plastic bags are blown off the site. And the site was known previously as Parkwood Springs, so presumably under all that waste contaminated water is seeping through into the river Don. Vinyl chloride, can not only cause cancer and reproductive disorders, but also, if it is burnt, give off phosgene, a highly toxic gas similar to mustard gas. Is it likely to burn at Parkwood? We hope not: but all the waste is mixed with organic household waste which gives off methane (an inflammable gas) as it rots. A burner tries to burn off this methane. Smoke has been noticed coming from the ground at one edge of the site. Local campaigners argue that toxic substances should not be dumped close to housing. The whole site should be closed. In the short term, there is an urgent need to discover whether the site really is a danger to health. Mike Smith, of RABID informed the Messenger that a Health Assessment Study for the area could be carried out by the local Health Authority. Or Sheffield Council could commission a local study from GPs in the area. Such studies would show whether unexplained clusters of diseases such as cancers are occurring near to the landfill site. If you have any information about Parkwood Landfill or its possible effects on the health of local residents, please contact the Messenger or Parkwood Landfill Action Group, Abbeyfield Park House, Abbeyfield Road, Sheffield S4 7AT RABID, c/o IMPACT, St Mary’s Church, Bramall Lane, S2 (phone 223 0225 or visit their web site at http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/wroe/sic/sic.html )

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