Total: 28 posts
Posts in: Health
Health impacts of air pollution in Southall.
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Original Atkins report data doesn’t add up, and is full of holes.
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PHE’s method of presenting data is unscientific and misleading, and appears designed to minimise the levels of toxic emissions.
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Average levels of benzene and naphthalene at the southern boundary near the soil hospital have been up to 2 times higher than the legal limit for at least seven months.
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Worried about as yet unknown, unseen long-term impacts
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My house has been wrecked and the people who are working for Berkley are unable to listen to me and also the other neighbours
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every evening, our bathroom drain lets off STRONG odour. It is awful! the smell spreads around the whole house - opening the windows is not even an option! daily use …
Investigations
Local Democracy
Environment
Commentary
Health
Personal
Computer Says No
How many times have you asked yourself — or heard others ask the same question?
Why does the council never reply to my emails?!
When residents raised concerns about toxic odours from the Southall Gasworks site, they were told to keep reporting. Every call, every email, every logged complaint was encouraged.
“It’s good you’re making so many complaints,” they were told at a meeting with Peter Mason in March 2019.
Volume of reporting, the implication was, would produce …
Investigations
Community
Commentary
Ealing Labour
Health
Ethics
The Drugs Don't Work
This is the story about how Ealing’s incredibly valuable and (very likely) hugely under-resourced drug and alcohol treatment service has been moved about, along with its vulnerable service users, for what appears to be — at least partly — political gain by Ealing Labour.
The scale of the borough’s substance misuse crisis is real.
According to the council’s own 2025 Substance Misuse Service report, Ealing has an estimated 2,103 opiate and crack users and 3,658 alcohol dependent drinkers. …
Local Democracy
Environment
Community
Commentary
Health
Pollution
How to Report Nuisance and Pollution in Ealing
Reporting a Nuisance in Ealing
A short epic of civic persistence (and becoming the problem)
Please complete this form.
Invocation
Sing, website, sing.
Of forms and thresholds, boxes small,
of windows that open into darkness,
of daytime hotlines that take you to voicemail
by those who never lived the night.
Sing of a citizen with sleep in debt,
who brings a sound, a smell, a (non-epileptic) tremor
to the gates of order —
and finds, beyond the gate,
only more order.
I. The Omen
It starts with …
Investigations
Environment
Community
Health
Pollution
Exposes
A Fire We Were Warned About
Literally within a couple of hours of posting my update on the Southall Gasworks / Toxic Town scandal yesterday, the recycling site just behind our home burned to the ground. My wife was terrified the fire would spread to our home with our two young children and now my elderly mum, too. Fortunately for everyone living nearby the emergency response was rapid and effective, and while the fire caused a great deal of inconvenience for weary travellers due to the closure of the adjacent Great Western …
Investigations
Community
Research
Health
AI
Toxic Town - Have You Been Affected?
Last week I watched last year’s Toxic Town series on Netflix, and then the Horizon documentary from 2020 (available on DailyMotion).
For anyone unfamiliar with it, Toxic Town tells the story of families in Corby, Northamptonshire, who were exposed to toxic dust during the reclamation of the Corby steelworks in the 1980s and 1990s. Nineteen families had children born with limb differences or other serious health problems - at least one resulting in the death of a newborn baby.
Over time, …
Environment
Commentary
Gasworks
Research
Health
Personal
Pollution
COPD
Last week I received confirmation of a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) based on results of spirometry tests back in August (it took that long for my GP surgery to get the results from the test centre, and only after my own intervention after their repeated failures).
My GP helpfully seemed very keen to blame my twenty-odd year history of smoking.
I first smoked at about age 20. My parents were smokers (wasn’t everyone back then?). I was never a heavy smoker. The …
Environment
Community
Commentary
Features
Housing
Health
Developers, if you Really Want to Help
This was survey feedback given to developers proposing to build a massive data centre on the site of the industrial estate down the road from me, but it applies more broadly to all big developers, especially those with annual profits of half a billion pounds.
I’m concerned about noise from the site causing a nuisance and health problems in an area that is already susceptible to multiple environmental health stressors, and exacerbated by deep-rooted poverty, deprivation, low pay and …
Environment
Commentary
Gasworks
Ealing Labour
Health
Ethics
AI
Risks to Health from Remediating Southall Gasworks
AI is more ethical than Ealing Labour Party. No money was exchanged.
What are the risks to health from remediating Southall Gasworks on site in the open air? The land is highly contaminated with benzene, naphthalene and a while host of other VOCs, PAHs, heavy metals, “blue billy” and asbestos, and surrounded by residential streets. The local community is mostly of south Asian and African heritage, and it is known that people with this heritage can be genetically vulnerable to …
Local Democracy
Environment
Community
Commentary
Gasworks
Ealing Labour
Health
Ethics
AI
I am the Leader of Ealing Council
I asked Google Bard to advise me on a local matter.
I am the leader of Ealing Council. I have received more than 250 reports about a BAD odour nuisance and air pollution from the remediation of the highly contaminated Southall Gasworks land. We had a public meeting where 250 angry residents complained about health problems as a result of the air pollution, including eye, nose and throat irritation, respiratory problems and infections, and even cancer and death of loved ones. The developer has …
Investigations
Local Democracy
Environment
Commentary
Features
Health
Pollution
Response to Ealing's Air Quality Strategy and Action Plan
Ealing Council’s draft Air Quality Strategy is a 64 page document together with a 40 page Action Plan, and the consultation period runs until 30 January 2023. It’s taken me the best part of six weeks, all my spare time over Christmas and New Year, to get through it all, make notes and cross-reference to try to make sense of it all and offer some feedback.
Really, there must be a much longer consultation period if Ealing Council is genuinely interested in residents' views.
The …
Campaigns
Local Democracy
Environment
Commentary
Gasworks
Ealing Labour
Berkeley Group
Health
Corruption
Pollution
Weasel Words on Air Quality Monitoring
Weasel words from Ealing Labour Council, who for six years have shown utter contempt for the health and wellbeing of Southall’s schoolchildren forced to live in the toxic stink created by Berkeley Group’s unsafe development of the old Gasworks site. 1/11
aroundealing.com/news/240000-in…
Take Blair Peach Primary School, adjacent to the highly contaminated old Gasworks site in Southall.
In 2016, Ealing Labour Council removed a functioning air quality monitor from the school grounds. …
Investigations
Campaigns
Local Democracy
Environment
Gasworks
Ealing Labour
Berkeley Group
Health
Pollution
Questions for Cabinet Leads
Questions for Cllrs @_petermason, @DrAyshaRaza, @jkblacker, @JasbirAnand2 and @kamnagpal on tackling inequalities, healthy lives, thriving communities, a fairer start, specifically in reference to the ongoing air pollution and odour nuisance from the old Southall Gasworks site.
1) Why was there no Equalities Impact Assessment, taking into account the local area's existing economic and health inequalities?
2) Why weren't local residents informed about the risks (including …
Local Democracy
Environment
Community
Commentary
Ealing Labour
Housing
Health
Corruption
Pollution
From the Southall Big Plan AGM in 2017
Some perennial problems that our elected representatives seem to be unable - or unwilling - to do anything about.
Some things never change!
Priority from nine years ago - clean streets! 
Julian Bell's Ten Year Plan. 
40% 'affordable homes' then. 30% 'genuinely affordable homes 'now.
Toilets?! 
'We care about Southall', they say.
That must be why they handed it over to the developers, and turned into a concrete jungle. 
Encouraging people to take more exercise by …
Campaigns
Environment
Commentary
Gasworks
Ealing Labour
Berkeley Group
Health
Personal
Corruption
Pollution
Exposes
Strawberries for Pigs?
Little did we know at the time, but these little strawberries were usually engulfed in a toxic plume of benzene, naphthalene, and god only knows what else.
Sensibly, the wife refused to eat them.
We later discovered that official planning documents for the nearby old gasworks, which was being dug up in the open air for new homes to be built on the contaminated land, stated that no vegetables should be grown on the land. Ever!
Ealing Council Leader Julian Bell publicly blamed 'the wrong kind of …
Environment
Community
Commentary
Gasworks
Health
Personal
Pollution
High Traffic Neighbourhood
Took me an hour (as opposed to 10 minutes) to drive my lad home from school this afternoon, thanks in part to the High Traffic Neighbourhood (‘Improving access for HGVs’) in Southall ‘Green’.
Like a rat, I tried the side streets and back roads option and found those to be jammed, too, and Scotts Road - although confusingly still two-way throughout - is now No Entry from the eastern end.
I would have abandoned my car and got out and walked/scooted home, but there was …
Local Democracy
Environment
Gasworks
Ealing Labour
Berkeley Group
Features
Health
Personal
Corruption
Trigger Vote for Sharma
In July 2019, I attended a public meeting with Public Health England to discuss air pollution problems created by the development of the old gasworks site.
At this meeting, I asked Public Health England if it is true that people with Asian and African heritage are genetically more at risk from poisoning from naphthalene – one of the main causes of the stink coming from the gasworks site.
Do you know what they said?
Yes.
Yes, Asian and African people are genetically more at risk from poisoning …
Environment
Community
Commentary
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Health
Personal
Ethics
Pollution
The Gaslighting Zone
@Southall_Wside @theCALMzone @bonappetit #StopPoisoningSouthall @SouthallGaswork
You guys are really taking the piss now, aren't you?
@Southall_Wside @theCALMzone @bonappetit @SouthallGaswork .@PHE_London report on the health impact of @Southall_Wside @SouthallGaswork:
@Southall_Wside @theCALMzone @bonappetit @SouthallGaswork @PHE_London Residents' own survey conducted a year ago:
Not sure how @theCALMzone think that #BerkeleyHomes and @Southall_Wside are in any way an …
Campaigns
Local Democracy
Environment
Gasworks
Ealing Labour
Berkeley Group
Features
Health
Personal
Corruption
Pollution
Exposes
Southall under Siege: the Neighbours from Hell
‘A lack of scrutiny,’ says John Freeman, Regulatory Services Officer at Ealing Council.
He’s talking about lessons to be learned from the council’s response to the new asphalt plant built in neighbouring Hillingdon borough in 2014.
‘We didn’t expect there to be so much odour from a new building, or so many complaints.’
Moving swiftly on.
Oppressive odour
The highly contaminated old gasworks site in Southall has been kicking up a stink, too.
Carcinogenic benzene and naphthalene, among a cocktail …
Investigations
Environment
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Health
Corruption
PHE cover-up, continued
This is a follow-up post to my previous PHE cover-up note.
Here is a graphical representation of what my earlier post found - …
Investigations
Campaigns
Environment
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Research
Health
Ethics
Pollution
Naphthalene Poisoning Risk in People of African and Asian Heritage
Scientific and medical research shows that people of Asian and African ethnicity are genetically more susceptible to naphthalene poisoning via inhalation.
@PHE_London representative Robie Kamanyire falsely claimed this is from ingestion only.
youtube.com/embed/ZdTj-l3S…
@PHE_London 50% ingested, 50% inhaled vapours.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.11…
@PHE_London Roby Kamanyire has emailed the following response to my query. 
@PHE_London It beggars belief, his response. …
Environment
Community
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Research
Health
Pollution
The Health and Other Impacts of Southall Waterside on Southall & Hayes Residents
Questionnaire first distributed in September 2018.
Any other comments about the effect the Southall Waterside redevelopment has had on your health?
Environment
Community
Commentary
Podcast
Gasworks
Ealing Labour
Berkeley Group
Health
Exposes
Pull the Other One, Julian
Conspiracy theory?
Our Great Leader, Julian ‘Two Jobs, Two Homes’ Bell, claimed on Desi Radio this morning that, “unfortunately”, none of the air quality monitoring data provided to him by Berkeley Group, the developers of the old gasworks site, provides any evidence of levels of chemicals harmful to health.
Well, would you believe it?
Bribery and corruption
The same developers who paid their former finance director £9.5m to keep quiet about years of Tony Pidgley, …
Environment
Commentary
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Health
Pollution
Exposes
Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics?
From my original Facebook note.
Berkeley Group founder and chair Tony Pidgley promised to share their onsite air quality monitoring data with us almost two months ago. We’re still waiting.
Today,I finally received a response to my email of 29 September, in which I asked Tony to confirmm what his trusty sidekick Karl Whiteman told us when we met with the both, that benzene levels were ‘averaging 3.25 parts per million (ppm) [sic], and never exceeding 5ppm.’
‘Dear David,
I …
Environment
Community
Commentary
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Health
Pollution
Exposes
Countering the Southall Waterside Narrative
From my original Facebook note.
1.Look how great we are!
Berkeley will tell you about all the good work they do in the Southall community:
·Giving a tiny fraction of their £600m profits to the local homeless shelter
·Creating the ‘edible’ garden (and ad hoc public toilet) outside the college on Beaconsfield Road
·Partnering with the Let’s Go Southall project to get Southallians fit, healthy and active!
·Making the (acid) Rain Garden at Blair Peach Primary School for children to …
Investigations
Campaigns
Environment
Community
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Health
Corruption
Pollution
Exposes
Berkeley's School Governors Board Member
This has shocked us all to the core.
@BerkeleyGroupUK's Head of Construction at #SouthallWaterside asked to join the board of governors at the adjacent Blair Peach Primary School.
This is from the minutes of that meeting (29/11/17). 1/7
"The HT reported that a smell/odour from the building works has on certain occasions been extremely strong, resulting in headaches ad asthma attacks. In addition, a white cloud / mist was apparent for two days." 2/7
"The HT confirmed that she …
Campaigns
Environment
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Research
Health
Pollution
Health Risks of Exposure to Benzene
'Benzene evaporates easily, and most people can just detect its distinctive smell at concentrations between 2.5 and 5 parts per million (ppm) in air.' (hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg329.… [PDF])
aresok.org/npg/nioshdbs/c…
convertunits.com/molarmass/Benz…
#Benzene #Cancer #SouthallWaterside #Southall @berkeleygroupuk @EalingCouncil @EalingCustSer @pejmason @juliangbell @EnvAgencySE @PHE_London @kamnagpal
hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg329.…
- short term exposure to benzene in air may cause …
Commentary
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Health
Pollution
Meeting Berkeley Group
Last Wednesday, I and two other #Southall residents met with @berkeleygroupuk's @damian_leydon, @rickwatler and @SangheraJags, and their PR company representative and note taker @chattycoley of @LocalDialogue, at their #SouthallWaterside HQ.
I have to say, I was mightily impressed by their palatial portacabin HQ. The reception area was bigger than my living room, and despite the lack of natural light and windows, the air conditioning was a great relief from the high 20s temperatures …
Investigations
Campaigns
Environment
Gasworks
Berkeley Group
Health
Corruption
Pollution
Exposes
Visit to Southall Waterside (aka The Green Quarter)
Visit To #SouthallWaterside
1:40 @damian_leydon 'We had to shut the site for 2 days when it snowed, it was unsafe... it cost me a lot of money to shut the site, but it was the right decision... We all know that ice can be dangerous!'
#SouthallLivesMatter
2:07 Visitor: 'Can we go into the soil hospital?'
@damian_leydon 'Er... no. No we won't be able to go in there today.'
#SouthallWaterside #MakingSouthallStink #Southall
Old story, but: 'Berkeley Homes is threatening hundreds of …