Dumped on us -
everyone’s toxic waste

20 tonnes of fly ash a day, heavily contaminated with dioxin, from the Edmonton waste incinerator in London is secretly being transported to Sheffield for dumping at Parkwood landfill.

The source of the ash was discovered by campaigners who tracked the tankers used to carry the ash from London to Sheffield,

Andy Booth of Sheffield Against Incineration (SAI) told the Messenger. The Environment Agency admitted fly ash is being dumped at Parkwood, but due to commercial secrecy, the exact source could not be revealed.

The pure fly ash being sent to Sheffield is the most toxic product of the incinerator. It contains ten times more dioxins than was left in soil after the infamous Agent Orange spraying in Vietnam in the 1960s, where high rates of birth defects are reported to this day.

SAI has also discovered that dioxin-contaminated waste from the Coalite chemical plant near Bolsover, Derbyshire, has been dumped at Parkwood. The Coalite plant was the scene of the two worst dioxin accidents in UK history, in 1968 and 1986. Waste from the plant has been found to contain the highest levels of dioxin ever recorded in the UK.
Over 80 workers at the Coalite plant have suffered from the skin disease chloracne, the definitive symptom of exposure to massive levels of dioxin. The Environment Agency has revealed that dioxin contaminated packaging was dumped at Shirecliffe.

I’m shocked and sickened to hear that tonnes of this poison have been dumped right next to our homes daily for who knows how long. This is a matter of life and death versus profit - there is no other option than to close the dump and hold a full enquiry into its health effects on the residents of Shirecliffe. If it is found that the site has caused illness or death, then Parkwood should be brought to justice.

Parkwood landfill is adjacent to Shirecliffe and newly-built Kingsmead estates. Unpleasant smell and swarms of flies come from the site. Locally there is an unexplained high incidence of chest and other health problems. Brian Wilson’s wife, Jean, has had cancer which is now in remission, and there are fears that Brian himself has the disease.

So do the toxins dumped there pollute the surrounding area? SAI say incinerator ash is mixed with liquid waste on site at Shirecliffe before being buried in clay lined pits. Environment Agency reports express concern that untested material was used as replacement for the normal lining, which was in short supply. Liquid may be leaching out into the River Don, there are springs under the site.

North Sheffield Action Group persuaded Environment Agency scientists to collect dust from Standish Gardens in Shirecliffe, and test it for toxins. They confirmed it contained cadnium, a highly toxic metal, and that Parkwood landfill is likely to be the source. Another sample contained cyanide. Although asked to test for dioxins, the Environment Agency did not do so.

The Duke of Norfolk owns the land and most of the shares in Parkwood. The return on shareholder funds in 1999-2000 was a handsome 47.47% . Landfill is in demand, and waste comes to Parkwood from all over the country, including Scotland and Wales.