Ex PM calls for action on Dalgety Bay radiation
Ally McRoberts • Published 28 Oct 2011 09:00
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Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown with Dalgety bay Community Council chairman Colin McPhail at the site on Tuesday.
Photo: Dave Wardle
FORMER Prime Minister Gordon Brown has told the Ministry of Defence to stump up the cash to rid Dalgety Bay of radioactive pollution.
A further 33 'sources' of contamination were found on the town's beach at the weekend, taking the number of particles recovered since September to 326.
Mr Brown has asked NHS Fife to allay fears about a cancer risk and cranked up the pressure on the MoD by stating that monitoring the situation is no longer enough.
The Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP stated, "Remedial work has to be done whatever the cost.
"That's a matter for the MoD, they have to accept their responsibility and I will be impressing that upon them."
The break-up and burning of old World War II planes at Donibristle has been blamed for the radium-226 contamination, which was first discovered in Dalgety Bay in 1990.
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) and the MoD have been involved in monitoring and recovery of particles but parts of the beach were cordoned off after the high level of activity - and sheer number - of particles found in recent weeks.
Sepa met the MoD and the Scottish Government on Monday to discuss the issue and "due to the unexpectedly high number of particle finds and their associated activity", further monitoring will recommence next week.
Mr Brown said, "Given this dramatic increase in the number of sources being found over such a short period and the fact that a recent find of metal was 10 times higher than anything ever found before, I am calling for immediate action."
The Labour MP said he wanted the next meeting of the Dalgety Bay Forum brought forward from 22nd November and "to seek assurance from NHS Fife that every precaution has been taken and that there is no cancer threat in the area as a result of these latest developments".
He continued, "It's now not enough just to monitor this site, there has to be remedial work done.
"I've already written to the health board and the MoD saying it's now time for this work to be authorised and that responsibility for payment must lie with the MoD.
"That's the priority now."
Most of the pollution has been found next to Dalgety Bay Sailing Club and its 270 members had the chance to quiz Sepa scientists about the radiation risk on Wednesday.
Commodore Donald Adrain said, "We are the biggest sailing club on the east coast and to date it's not affected us but the members are concerned about the future with the discovery of more and stronger particles.
"People have found luminous dials with 'altimeter' written on them so it's quite clear to everyone where the pollution has come from and who is responsible for it.
"We're not the experts and we're happy for Sepa to take the lead on this but we just want the MoD to clean up their own mess."
Asked about the impact on the club, he said, "We hold regattas where we train up to 100 kids and there may be an issue of parents not wanting to bring them down here.
"We may have to restrict what we do which is not great, especially with the Olympics coming up next year and the club backing an initiative to get more people involved with the sport."
Mr Brown came under fire from the SNP this week who asked why he had not cleared the contamination from his constituency when he was in Downing Street.
The former premier said, "We've always had to balance the need to properly monitor everything that's been happening and at the same time respect the fact people know this is a good area and they don't want fears to be unnecessarily raised about threat to safety.
"As long as this was being properly monitored and they were not finding anything that was unduly out of control, then people needed to make sure the monitoring was being done effectively.
"That's what my letters in January were about, when I pressed the MoD about continuing the monitoring on the site.
"Now that particles have been discovered at a much higher level we have to take more stringent action and that's what these proposals are about."
The Dalgety Bay Community Council chairman, Colin McPhail, said, "Gordon Brown gives us heavyweight support in trying to put pressure on the MoD to come up with a remedial programme to sort this once and for all.
"It's not a political issue to us and, to be fair to him, at the beginning of the year he exerted pressure on the MoD to continue monitoring for the next three years."
He added, "People may criticise me for having a vested interest but of course I have!
"I stay here but I'm also concerned about the health issues for the community as well as the social and economic impact it could have on the town."
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jesstd
34 posts
Oct 28, 09:03
Report commentErr .... why didn't he do this as PM? Or as Chancellor? Might be time for some FOI requests to the Cabinet Office covering this issue between 2007 and 2010...
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Yes 13
No 1
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jesstd
34 posts
Oct 28, 12:50
Report commentThe SEPA website relating to Dalgety Bay is here:
http://www.sepa.org.uk/radioactive_substances/publications/dalgety_bay_reports.aspx
The minutes show a picture of buck-passing and wrangling over cost since 2005, when the MoD said it was aware of the situation, was looking at assisting, but did not accept liability. At the time it was claimed that Fife Council (then responsible for contaminated land) had been going around in circles for 15 years. Deficiencies with a 1996 risk assessment were also identified but, despite this, the MoD appears to have ducked responsibility, even declining to handle the radioactive material at nearby Rosyth, and trying to avoid blame for the spread of radioactivity to the foreshore. A letter from a Scottish Executive civil servant in 2005 was ignored by the MoD, and it took a further ministerial letter from the SNP Scottish Government (Cabinet Secretary) in 2009 - four years later - to elicit a promise of action from the MoD.
Gordon Brown had multiple opportunities to intervene and ignored them all. Now he is shamelessly shouting from the sidelines as it is someone else's problem. He says that "remedial work has to be done whatever the cost ... that's a matter for the MoD, they have to accept responsibility." Was that his view as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister when the MoD were stonewalling over this issue? It is despicable and hypocritical!
Recommend? Yes 21
No 0
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******
Oct 28, 23:27
Report commentThis comment has been removed by a moderator
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Ferryman
10 posts
Oct 29, 15:29
Report commentThe comments from Mr Brown are truely cringe worthy.
Recommend? Yes 10
No 0
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Ulysees
40 posts
Oct 29, 22:26
Report commentI'm afraid this is one position where I'd actually have to agree with, and stand alongside NotHappyJan! :/
She's pretty much hit the nail on the head with her comment. Regardless of your political views someone has to take responsibility for the predicament the individuals of Dalgety Bay face here and lets be honest here counting GB as "Heavyweight support in trying to put pressure on the MoD" is a farce in itself unless you're taking his physical weight into consideration? His clout as an MP was pretty much massacred when the muppet forgot to remove his mic prior to calling Sixty five year old Gillian Duffy a biggot of a woman!
Recommend? Yes 11
No 3
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beaker
80 posts
Oct 30, 20:57
Report comment -
Ulysees
40 posts
Oct 31, 16:52
Report commentApologies Beaker - no offence meant :)
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beaker
80 posts
Nov 1, 18:58
Report commentam only havin a laff, its a shame though, every thing he does turns to merd.
Recommend? Yes 3
No 0
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triskel
257 posts
Nov 2, 10:42
Report comment50% of the people killed in WW2 were civilians. 75% of the people killed in S.E. Asia were civilians. 90% of the people killed in Afghanistan/Iraq were civilans. HMG and the MOD don't care about civilians, either at home or abroad. We are considered cannon fodder and collateral damage. Stop our children from enlisting and demand that the military disarm and clean up this country. The housing stock is crumbling and there is pollution everywhere. The military's resources need to be put to constructive not destructive use. The radiation from WW2 is still poisoning this country, we have yet to suffer the effects of windblown depleted uranium that our forces used in Afghanistan and Iraq. That is not to mention the thousands of mentally and physically crippled servicemen who were conned by Blair, Bush and Brown into fighting and illegal war on behalf of the oil companies and big business.
Recommend? Yes 3
No 7
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bicyclebob
159 posts
Nov 2, 13:30
Report commentTriskel,We have ascertained you are ascetic,you do not like human nature or the world.It would seem you have degenerated to depths of depression and hatred of mankind.I can see why people do not respond muach to you-god bless
Recommend? Yes 4
No 1
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triskel
257 posts
Nov 2, 13:52
Report commentPlease address my posts and not what you assume to be my personality! How can you say that wanting peace, justice and equality equates with depression and hatred of mankind?
bicyclebob?
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bicyclebob
159 posts
Nov 2, 14:10
Report commentwe know your hatred for mankind,we just read your ramblings,chains etc
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No 1
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bicyclebob
159 posts
Nov 2, 14:15
Report commentyour hate'rent is very obvious,as soon as someone gets the better of you,you show your venom,very nasty person
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No 1
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bicyclebob
159 posts
Nov 2, 14:17
Report commentmalovent,suits you.I do not want to waste too much time with you,as not many people do
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triskel
257 posts
Nov 2, 16:40
Report commentMy hatred for wicked people, bullies, exploiters, warmongers etc. is not the same as hating "mankind", but I would rather say I loved LIFE rather than say I loved "mankind". I can stick up for myself bicyclebob and if people want to mix it verbally I can do that too. I don't need to attack people's "personalities" to back up my case though. You call it rants; I call it historical fact, present reality and future potential. You obviously haven't got the energy or the morals to destroy my argument. I appreciate how difficult it must be to have been fed a lie and to not be able to justify it up when it has been exposed. To admit you were lied to and willingly swallowed it is no shame, a lot of people are in that same situation. We need to unite to get the warmongers and exploiters out of our lives. Just because my posts don't sound like The Dunfermline Press or The Daily Mail doesn't mean I'm a bad person
Recommend? Yes 3
No 6
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triskel
257 posts
Nov 2, 22:37
Report comment"We" ? Are you like a gang of super heros with secret identities. Do you phone each other up and bleat about triskel?
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No 2
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bicyclebob
159 posts
Nov 3, 12:29
Report commenttriskel,you are a lonely,pertinent insecure creature,you need to go to the apothecary and get your fix.I am not going to waste my time on you,as you are obviously lonely(are you h/bound) and go on here to annoy people, as no one talks to you. People responding to you, have nowt nice to say to you.mmmmmmmmmmmm says it all really.Go annoy someone else,and see what response you get.SADDO
Recommend? Yes 3
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triskel
257 posts
Nov 3, 13:43
Report commentStill got nothing but insults up your sleeve? I'm saying stuff that is relevant and vital. Just because you have difficulty digesting it doesn't mean I'm a nutter it means you need to read more, get out more and educate yourself bicyclebob.
p.s. Did you mean impertinent when you wrote "pertinent" Pertinent means relevant while impertinent means cheeky.
Recommend? Yes 0
No 4
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******
Nov 3, 21:45
Report commentThis comment has been removed by a moderator
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******
Nov 7, 13:36
Report commentThis comment has been removed by a moderator
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******
Nov 8, 11:17
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jesstd
34 posts
Nov 8, 13:13
Report commentMore particles found, more radiation found. Looks like SEPA are waving their trump card of "radioactive contaminated land" which would be hugely embarrassing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-15635527
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supersonic
217 posts
Nov 8, 15:57
Report commentWhere can I get my hands on some of this radiation? I've always fancied being a superhero?
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towanda
6 posts
Nov 28, 16:54
Report commentI am keen to contact anyone who has had cancer in their family who believes this may be a consequence of exposure to radiation on the beach, I have three members of my family affected and they all played on the beach there as children
Recommend? Yes 0
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