There’s something VERY fishy about The Walsall “chemical spillage”

 

This blog originally appeared on our sister blog What lies beneath Rattlechain lagoon. 

Earlier this week there was an announcement that read like an apocalypse had befallen The Walsall Canal with a “chemical spillage” considered so dangerous that 12 miles of surrounding connecting canal towpaths were closed and boat traffic shut off, effectively stranding anyone on a narrow boat from moving up or down three sets of locks.

As someone who is obviously acutely aware of the damage that chemicals can do in the environment and how these incidents destroy wildlife, I was very concerned about what had happened and feared the worst due to the measures being taken that the authorities were considered necessary. Other people were contacting me about the situation and were concerned about the effects on bird life on the canal system in the area.

What transpired was very poor information being released, particularly about WHAT chemical had been released into the canal, the circumstances and the QUANTITY and SOURCE, and the PATHWAYit had taken to reach the water.

It was all a bit vague but it appeared that multiple agencies were involved including Walsall Council, the CRT and EA as well as The bizarre UKHSA- formerly Public Health England. For some reason, they were very keen that people did not touch the water, eat any fish from the canal or walk along the towpaths.

Eventually it was claimed that Sodium Cyanide had entered the canal, but no source or company named. This chemical obviously rings alarm bells with the public as a deadly poison, although it is actually less poisonous than white phosphorus found in Rattlechain lagoon, and which of course was spilt liberally into the canal system on route from Trinity Street to Rattlechain via the upper BCN toxic trail route. Were the canals closed then, and the boats stopped? NO THEY WERE NOT AS BRITISH WATERWAYS AS THEY THEN WERE WERE TOTALLY COMPLICIT IN CAUSING THE POLLUTION AND ENCOURAGING IT, EVEN USING ALBRIGHT AND WILSON’S VILE SHIT HOLE THEMSELVES AS A MEANS OF DUMPING THEIR OWN DREDGINGS TO CONTINUE THE GHASTLY BOAT TRAIL POLLUTING SPECTACLE. 

As for protecting public health, what a fucking joke when people involved in carrying the toxic waste by canal boat were harmed in the process, so what hope for any other bugger that touched or came into contact with the water, let alone any wildlife or fish?

Fast forward to 2024 and the Canal and Rivers Trust are now a charity and corporate PR brand. They are largely funded by fishing licences or fishing rights being sold and of course boat licences. The latter regularly cause widespread damage to wildlife with their toxic snail diesel and hydraulic oil releases- particularly in the Walsall area. Even recently this occurred and many birds died and yet no boats were stopped from moving by the CRT on some bloody “explorer cruise”- basically a jolly for elder people along a stretch of canal ending with a fish and chip supper at some pub. The hypocrisy could not be more stark, given that this particular incident did not effect any fish in the canal, just wildfowl. 

The EA are of course a longstanding joke also, as I regularly evidence in my unfortunate dealings in reporting issues to these hapless, unknowledgeable and talentless individuals. They were and are happy with a bunch of wankers dumping toxic waste under water under a useless licence auspice, even pumping it back into the canal blissfully unaware that they were doing so given they have no means of testing the water for the toxic chemical, but when some fish deaths occur it is suddenly a red alert for them.

Enter the bullshit classification system they use, which I looked at HERE. Of course when fish die they claim a “category 1” incident. For other areas that have no fish and no fish deaths they don’t care- hence Rattlechain and also Smethwick Hall Park caused by Severn Trent Water’s sewage pollution and failure to trace and stop misconnections entering the water. The hypocrisy and interest over the money making source for the EA and CRT could not be more stark. Fish matter because they are keeping these individuals in jobs, birds are not, and that is the bottom line. 

SODIUM CYANIDE- AN INFAMOUS POISON FROM THE PAST. 

 

I have previously looked at this chemical and how “deadly barrels” of it were dumped in the early 1970’s leading to the authorities starting to take environmental dumping more seriously. The West Midlands served as a particular hotspot with National news running a series of scares about what had in reality been occurring for too long. Marl holes and tips and brooks were easy dumping grounds for “people of the road” paid by scum companies to deposit their waste with no questions asked. Tatters with tippers were a common menace.

Both Rattlechain and Gower Tips had dumpings, with Albright and Wilson feigning ignorance which I frankly do not believe.

The following information is given by The UKHSA.

Sodium/Potassium Cyanide General information.

Sodium/Potassium Cyanide Incident management.

The properties of cyanide mean that it produces highly toxic breakdown chemicals when in contact with water.

Anochrome Limited- who are they?

Eventually and after an uncomfortable lack of information on the source, an electro plating company based a scant 100 metres from the canal were named. This industrial concern based in Reservoir Place, Walsall claims to have been operating on its website since 1946. It has three current directors, at least two of whom appear to be successors of a family line. Managing Director Mark Jones appears to have taken over from his father Andrew. Secretary Andrew Keery, and Robert Gray complete the triumvirate.

 

They have a number of subsidiary companies, including Wolverhampton Electro plating Limited based in Wolverhampton. It is of note that all three directors are now giving a care of address for this company rather than the one in Walsall. I take some interesting observations from this concerning the state of their finances and the future of “Anochrome limited” as an operation.

Historically, this company have form for polluting the environment via criminal negligence.

The 12th December 1978  Wolverhampton Express and Star reported how they had been fined a rather paltry £245 for cyanide and toxic metals going down the drains

In 1981, and via The Sandwell Evening Mail  of 27th June , we see a repeat performance of this , on this occasion a whopping £280 for illegal trade effluent discharges including zinc. This particular metal is of concern as it is a neurological poison to wild birds and people and is very similar to lead poisoning in high levels in this regard.

In 1992 there was a fire sparking another chemical alert with two staff needing treatment.

A more recent event reveals this company were fined by The HSE for breaches under The Health and Safety At Work Act. This was in 2018.

Of course, the three directors are ultimately responsible for all that goes on here, all that goes wrong on their site and anything that occurs illegally or by “accident”

Their parent company in Wolverhampton also has form for health and safety breaches. 

I am not certain if they are the electroplating company mentioned in THIS article concerning cyanide dumping, but it confirms the absolute lack of integrity of this industry at large in terms of failing to protect the environment and adhere to laws. Ultimately, they argue about quantities within “legal” limits. THE LIMITS OF COURSE SHOULD BE ZERO.

 

MY DIRECT OBSERVATIONS AND HEAD SCRATCHING ABOUT THIS INCIDENT BASED ON EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE ISSUES. 

There are some questions and issues which do not make sense to me about this incident which almost made me question as to if it is a hoax and a multi agency training exercise, just to keep the public under fear about something which is not really there.

• Police tape and plastic barriers stopping people from going down the towpath. If there was some deadly gas being given off or prospect of such then fair enough. BUT the road in Reservoir Place remains open to the public.
• Businesses in this road near to the canal were carrying on as normal. People were at work.  People stationed above the bridges stopping people going onto the towpath were not wearing any breathing apparatus, PPE or gloves. There sojourn there for a length of time is similarly puzzling if there is some major danger in this “epicentre” area. How were they measuring levels of gas being evolved- I saw nothing to monitor this.
• Work on the highly contaminated former Copper Works immediately next to the claimed effected canal continues apace with vehicles and staff coming and going from John Hunt who are carrying out the work to facilitate industrial units on the reclaimed “brownfield” site. Of course, what fate the canal has when these industries move in next door we will have to wait and see. Hopefully they will not be dealing in chemicals, FFS!

• The Anochrome building appears to be being decommissioned. This ties in with the change of C/O address on the Companies house website for the directors. There is Heras fencing blocking the site, and people again wearing only  basic PPE and not hazmat suits, including a security guard obviously there to stop journalists asking pointed questions of anyone there. Crap was being loaded into a skip, and I do not believe that this had anything to do with any spillage of a company still at work in this building.

• There were the press and people from CRT giving interviews on the bridge without any apparent danger to health, and certainly no adverse health effects were observed by myself when I was there.
• A few dead fish. I have seen major fish deaths along canals- caused by boaters stirring up silt and by pollution from Companies like Robinson’s– again this was The Walsall Canal. Having cycled from  Walsall town centre I saw no dead fish, and none in any distress. Only on reaching Reservoir Place were there any dead fish, and these were small. To suggest that this has been a “major” fish kill as it stands is not supported by factual evidence, is misinformation and a made up lie. 

• I observed no dead or ill birds, either on route to the epicentre or at it itself. Indeed, ducks were dabbling right next to the few dead fish, making me question if the spillage is one of bullshit and little else?

• It was stated by someone from the CRT that they had been told they could not remove the fish because of the toxicity of the water and the fish themselves. I asked if any dead birds had been seen or removed and the answer was in the negative. This is of concern and questionable, as would not fish eating birds be poisoned if they eat the “poisoned” fish?
• Compare this to the rather slow testing they claim to be doing on the canal at various locations. Surely if they thought there was imminent risk they would have a much quicker turnover of results now days later?
• The only gas I could see being emitted is one of gaslighting the public that something major has occurred here affecting such a wide area. That is not my direct observation and the evidence does not support that it has.
• Just to state that any pollution issue like this is a disgrace and the book should be thrown at Anochrome and its directors for their failure.
• Is this an opportunity for certain players to blow their own trumpets, like the covid 19 hoax frit civil service, who for the last 4 years hiding under a rock and shirking from home pop up to attempt to justify a pay increase that they have some actual importance in society when a magic money tree Labour Government get in? Of course, good socialists , junior doctors and anyone involved in the mysterious world of fake doctor “public health” want everything you have in the private sector on top of their gold plated pensions- that is except your job which would involve them doing some actual fucking work where they might be sacked if they had the amount of time off that they  have on permanent maternity leave or some other stubbed toe or bad back/”long covid”/mental elf made up condition excuse.
• I’m just waiting for some fucking clown to link or attempt to link this incident to “climate change” Give it time- they usually find some bizarre and irrational means of doing so to justify their warped insane cult of doom and “faith” in scientists and academia saving them.

We live in an age of fear mongering, of “forbidden zones” and scenarios like the film The Village where instruction not to do something appears with asinine bellows of “you shall not pass”. It is the liberal left – those in the civil service, who appear to think we are fucking stupid and should not question their bizarre nonsensical diktats like not crossing a line of tape because The Emperor’s new calamity will befall us and to “trust the science” because that is unquestionable. Well it is questionable and I question it for the reasons stated above which do not add up. This is not “conspiracy” it is common sense, something which appears to have gone out of the window of late and is fuelled by a media clamouring for such events to report on. They should be questioning this as I am, but they don’t because they are crap and parrots of the New World Order that is being forged.

Many sections of the canal have now been opened back up, and it remains to be seen what will happen with the area still closed off and under scrutiny. 4,000 litres of chemicals were spilt according to the latest EA update, which is roughly about 22 baths worth. For the birds, they will carry on probably affected more by the boats that will now be moving again and spreading their shite as rainbows on the water. Will the CRT or EA care about that? So long as no fish are affected will they fuck.