Epynt-disaster.co.uk
BACK How did the Epynt become the site for the biggest and longest running bonfire in the United Kingdom? The directive from Blair was to find a site for mass burial and burning in Wales. Carwyn Jones chose Powys. Powys County Council was given criteria incorporating consideration of public health and the environment and stated there was no site which met the criteria in Powys so Carwyn Jones took the decision to use Epynt towards the end of March. It was owned by the MOD and had easy access. The environment agency inspected Epynt on 28 March and chose two sites, one for burning and one for burial. A rushed report was prepared on 4 April justifying the decision which proved tragically wrong. Cattle and sheep carcasses for burial and burning started to arrive on the 5Th April. Lorries from the North of England was seen arriving as well as from Wales. By the 10th April leachate was discovered in a bore hole by the burial pit. The Epynt Action Group threatened an injunction and Carwyn Jones issued a statement that no further carcasses would be buried and that the existing carcasses, stated to be 7,000 would be placed on a temporary lining and would be then removed to the burn site. Burning would continue. The rate of carcasses arriving at the site exceeded the burning rate and the extra carcasses were "placed" in the burial pit on top of the existing carcasses which in turn were on the temporary lining - this apparently was not burying and therefore not going back on the undertaking given. The original carcasses totalling 7,000 had grown to 20,000. The Epynt action group then threatened a judicial review on 17 April to stop the burning and were about to start the action when Carwyn Jones announced that there were no more carcasses to burn and therefore no more carcasses would be sent to Epynt but the existing carcasses would be burnt on site. On 20th April it was announced that the carcasses in the trench (together with the plastic covers used to seal the lorries which had been dumped with the carcasses) would be burnt in the burial pit having been moved off the temporary lining. The Epynt Action Group warned that such a course of action would lead to further contamination and that the carcasses which had disintegrated to a sort of blancmange attached to the wool (Carwyn’s Cawl) would not burn in a trench without a draught. The Epynt action group was told that this was the "least hazardous option". Two days later the Epynt Action Group was informed that the carcasses would be removed from the pit because they would not burn and taken to the burn site for burning. This is now being done – the burning is difficult because the carcasses are mixed with soil and the plastic covers are being burnt as well as they cannot be separated On 1st May MAFF announced that the burning would cease on Friday, 4 May – unless the remaining carcasses are removed off site for disposal it is difficult to see how this is possible. Our monitor believes that there is still 10 days burning. Coal has been burning at approximately 220 tons a day. 800 tons are stockpiled and on 1st May 400 tons were delivered compared with the normal 200-240 tons – who are MAFF trying to kid?. Prior to the commencement of the carcass disposal, monitoring of the smoke was delegated by Powys Environmental Health Authority to the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency chose to place one static monitor in a place which would only pick up information if the wind blew in a south westerly direction at a sufficiently strong wind speed to drive the smoke in that direction. In the event this monitor only picked up one "bad" day. The remaining days the smoke went elsewhere. A fax was sent on 19 April to Powys Environmental Health from the Epynt Action Group solicitor who asked for an immediate cessation of burning . A response was given by Martin Gregory on 23rd April stating that "no statutory nuisances had been established" notwithstanding that there had been no proper monitoring undertaken. Powys Environment Health starting placing monitoring equipment in some of the valleys on 24rd April. The exercise was completed on 30th April - 25 days after the burning commenced.