The asbestos time bomb in our schools

I recently read this article in the Daily Express, 24th June.
You can refer to the campaign website run by Richard Lees for more details by clicking on the title of this article or go to http://www.schoolasbestosaction.co.uk

Also see Michael Lees' website at the following address:

http://www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk/

As those of you who attended the Leziate Meeting (and the more recent East Winch Parish Council meeting) will know, my father Eric died in December last year of an asbestos related cancer.

For readers of this site you may also remember that a worker dies of a cancer every 52 seconds (according to the International Metalworkers Federation).

So, we live in a free country, and we can think what we like?

If you read Wendy Twite's article in the recent voice of the villages she essentially accuses EWAG and other local groups of "scaremongering" and "spreading misery" and unhappiness.

Wendy, get real!

If there's a choice between profit or safety, what wins out most of the time?

Safety?

If there's a clean up needed, is it easier to ignore it, or spend the cash?

Do you get a clean up, or a cover up?

Look at Bawsey Lake as an example (and the article on eraseorg.blogspot.com) where the original mining company involved and the council have effectively washed their hands of it.

In the above article from the Daily Express, Michael Lees, who lost his wife to mesothelioma at the age of 51, is not to my mind, scaremongering or spreading misery. He is raising awareness of a vital issue that has affected him personally at a fundamental level. His partner is dead.

Does every body have to have a family member die before they will get up off their arses and stop watching Eastenders?

It is the short term focus of the government on cash and the complacency, reticence and reluctance of the general public to stand up and be counted and to be heard that adds to this problem.

Remember that maxim about the truth - "First it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, finally it is regarded as self evident."

Remember people used to think the earth was flat!

Asbestos Kills. Silica Kills. Asbestosis Kills. Silicosis Kills. Cancer Kills.

Wake up, and get your head out of the sand.

Or people will look back on our generation and say:

"What a bunch of losers! They did nothing about the poisons in their environment. Anything for a quiet life! They were exploited and they paid the ultimate price. They didn't heed the warning signs. They did what's considered Normal for Norfolk - Nothing! And the costs are still being met by future generations, who have to clean up their mess when it could have all been so easily dealt with at the time. Well, Good Riddance to them, That's what I say."

So, anybody want to find out if their local school is made out of asbestos?

Or is what happens on TV, to Dirty Den and Bet at the Rovers or in Big Brother more important?

Anybody interested in why a local man has 13 dead relatives who all worked in or lived near the sandpits? 13 coincidences? or is the truth too terrible to contemplate?

That local landowners will sell out and effectively be signing your death certificates. (And profiting directly and massively at your expense in the face of your tumbling property price in the process!)

But why make things difficult for them, when you can all be friendly and talk about flower arranging and other 'paramount' parish council business?

Or there's always DENIAL. You can tell us all as story, such as...

"My family worked in schools/mines full of asbestos/silica/whatever and it never did them any harm..."

Well, I for one am not convinced.

I saw some impressive video footage recently of 1000's of courageous women running for breast cancer, a lot of whom had their own story to tell.
But the run itself, however commendable, only raises awareness, without addressing the root causes, which are toxins in the workplace and the environment which are allowed to stay there or be introduced there in spite of compelling evidence (such as that on the website of Heath and Safety Executive-HSE) and legal requirements (in the case of asbestos) for their removal.

Chet Holmes says that of 70,000 chemical compounds introduced since the war, that only 3% have been tested for long term effects. So 97% of them remain in the environment as a potential threat.

One thing that jumps out at me from the express article is:

"My concerns were met with indifference."

That's been my experience too.

Indifference, denial, even ridicule.


This is a real ongoing danger. Yet another toxic time bomb, in the same way that the extraction of silica sand next to our village is a potential toxic time bomb. There is compelling physical evidence and statistics that support this. Facts. And we all stand to be the victims, the casualties, the "collateral damage" if we do not act. As Cliff Smalley (of the Save Pentney Action Group) said at Leziate: "Is it a fight." And the fight goes on. And it is a fight we need to win.

PS if you still think this is a load of fuss about nothing, check out the "Safe Shopper's Bible" on Amazon, which tells you what products are chemically safe and which ones aren't. Or go back to watching Eastenders, where all the real drama is!