Action Network “will be holding a day of action outside the annual British Insurance Broker’s Association conference, calling on the delegates NOT to insure fossil fuel projects, specifically the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and the West Cumbrian Coal Mine. Without insurance, these destructive carbon bomb projects cannot go ahead.” This was held on 15th May – yesterday.
The government are keen to keep all protest against the coal mine limited to “carbon bomb” issues rather than for people to question the very real nuclear impacts of this earthquake inducing coal mine just five miles from the equivalent of tens of thousands of nuclear bombs. We are being played by climate focussed NGOs who remain silent on this and Government who are keen to foster that silence. To me this banner appears to be laughing at those aiming to keep Sellafield’s plutonium stockpile safe from mining induced earthquakes. The coal mine CEO Mark Kirkbride is advising Government on an even bigger earthquake inducing hole right next to his coal mine in order to dump very hot nuclear wastes . The nuclear industry has got away with paying a very limited insurance for decades because it cannot possibly pay for the fallout of a nuclear accident or catastrophe but lets not mention that…..ever. The more deep mining takes place next to Sellafield’s stockpiles of 139 tonnes plutonium the more chance Cumbria and the Planet has of an “exceptional accident” releasing the equivalent of tens of thousands of nuclear bombs. The public will pay and the ££££s would be the least of it.
Cumbrian Coal Mine Pushes Hard to Bypass Nuclear Aspects of Marine License
Campaigners have discovered that the Cumbrian coal mine, despite being subject to
two ongoing legal challenges is pushing to bypass any regulatory controls concerning
offshore extraction of coal under the Irish Sea off the Cumbrian coast.
Notwithstanding the legal challenges by South Lakes Action on Climate Change
and Friends of the Earth on climate impacts, West Cumbria Mining (WCM) are
pushing ahead to discharge the planning conditions put in place to mitigate a variety
of adverse impacts.
Planning Condition 22 states that “no construction works shall take place
until either a Marine Licence is granted or, if a licence is not required, that this
information has been submitted to and agreed in writing by the minerals planning
authority.” Freedom of Information requests by Friends of the Earth reveal that the
developers are lobbying the council’s planning authority (formerly Cumbria, now
Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness) in order to bypass the regulatory scrutiny of
a Marine License.
“Nuclear Impacts Ignored”
Radiation Free Lakeland (RFL), the nuclear safety group who were first to oppose the
coal mine in 2017, point out that “our most serious concerns remain the close
proximity to Sellafield, earthquake risks, subsidence and transboundary impacts. All of
these concerns have been brushed aside, firstly by Cumbria County Council and then
by the Planning Inquiry as being issues that “would be considered by the Marine
Management Organisation as part of the licensing process.”
New Coal Mine Like No Other in Proximity to Sellafield – can kicked down the road indefinitely
Despite the Planning Inspector and the Secretary of State stating that “potential
transboundary effects from the offshore components “would be considered” by the
MMO,” the developers clear aim is to bypass offshore regulatory controls includingnuclear safety aspects of their proposed coal mine just five miles from the worlds
riskiest nuclear waste and plutonium site.
Clear and Present Danger Ignored
The nuclear impacts say RFL have “unlike the blanket coverage of the mine’s climate impacts been given zero attention. That avoidance looks like a deliberate and ongoing ploy despite the clear and present danger to Cumbria and our European neighbours from a radiological catastrophe.”
“Rubber Stamp”
As revealed in the email correspondence seen by Friends of the Earth, the coal mine’s
push to be granted “a rubber stamp” hinges on section 66(1)(7) of the Marine and
Coastal Access Act 2009 that they will not “construct, alter or improve any works […]
under the seabed.” West Cumbria Mining justify this in a statement to the Marine
Management Organisation saying that: “On the basis that all WCM will do under the
seabed is extract coal (not construct, alter or improve anything at all), the Act cannot
apply.” This justification by the developers is at odds with reality. Mass voids under
the seabed created by extraction of coal will, according to WCM’s plans be backfilled.
The backfill would consist of poor-quality unsaleable coal and rock spoil crushed and
added to water and cement to be pumped into the voids in an attempt to mitigate
against subsidence of the seabed above the coal mine.
Under the Coal Mine, the Sellafield Mud Patch
Radiation Free Lakeland note
that the seabed here holds most of the radioactive burden from decades of Sellafield
discharge to the Irish Sea and is known as the Sellafield Mud Patch. Resuspension of
the silts would result in increased radiological burden to marine-life and humans.
Richard Outram of Nuclear Free Local Authorities has pointed out that: “surely they
(WCM) are ALTER-ing something under the seabed by extracting coal. The Oxford
English Dictionary defines an Alternation as ‘a change to something that makes it
different’. If the coal is there and is then no longer there then surely the geological
composition and structure beneath the seabed is being changed and thereby
altered?”
Earthquake and Subsidence
Regarding earthquake risks from the coal mine the Planning Inspector in his
recommendation to Government stated: “the risk of a seismic event cannot be
ruled out.” However, the Planning Inquiry afforded “limited weight” to “future
seismic events” leaving this along with other impacts such as subsidence and
resuspension of radioactive wastes on the seabed from decades of Sellafield’s
discharges to scrutiny by the Marine Management Organisation.
Hair Raising Twist in the Tale
Radiation Free Lakeland say that yet another hair-raising twist in the tale of this coal
mine is the appointment of the coal boss, CEO Mark Kirkbride to the Committee on
Radioactive Waste Management in 2019. Kirkbride’s ongoing role in the Department for
Energy Security and Net Zero’s sponsored Committee is to advise Government on
construction of a deep geological disposal facility for the UK’s heat generating nuclear
wastes. Two of the three areas in the frame for a very deep nuclear facility for high level
nuclear wastes (South and Mid Copeland) are in West Cumbria. Coincidentally these
two areas are adjacent to Mark Kirkbride’s coal mine.
5th April 2024Sent by Email to Tim Farron MP for Westmorland and Furness
Dear Tim,
Cumbria Coal Mine Seeking to Bypass Marine License in Condition 22
Please find enclosed a letter from Niall Toru, Senior Lawyer with Friends of the Earth.
The letter is addressed to Cumberland, and Westmorland & Furness Councils and
outlines correspondence between West Cumbria Mining and the councils with regard
marine licensing of the coal mine.
The letter states: “despite the legal challenges, WCM will presumably be working to
discharge the various planning conditions, which were put in place to mitigate the
adverse effects of the proposal and make it acceptable in planning terms. One such
condition is that no construction works shall take place until either a marine licence is
granted or, if a licence is not required, that this information has been submitted to and
agreed in writing by the minerals planning authority.” Presently the minerals planning
authority with responsibility for ensuring due regulatory scrutiny is Westmorland and
Furness.
Radiation Free Lakeland’s opposition to the coal mine began in 2017 with our most
serious concerns regarding proximity to Sellafield, earthquake risks, subsidence and
transboundary impacts being brushed aside, firstly by Cumbria County Council and
then by the Planning Inquiry as being issues that “would be considered by the Marine
Management Organisation as part of the licensing process.” Despite the Planning
Inspector and the Secretary of State clearly stating that “potential transboundary
effects from the offshore components “would be considered” by the MMO,” West
Cumbria Mining told the Planning Inspector that “we may not need a marine licence.”
As revealed in the email correspondence by Friends of the Earth, WCM’s desire that
they should be granted a rubber stamp hinges on section 66(1)(7) of the Marine and
Coastal Access Act 2009 that they will not “construct, alter or improve any works […]under the seabed.” West Cumbria Mining have blithely stated to the Marine
Management Organisation that: “There will be no construction of any structures or
other installations underground in the offshore portion of the mine – the only activity is
the mining of coal. Once the room and pillar sections have been mined, all temporary
equipment is removed and those sections are permanently abandoned.” This magical
scenario of WCM’s is aimed at circumventing a marine licence and is at odds with the
practicalities of construction of a coal mine and intended backfilling with cement paste
(with the aim of mitigating the inevitable subsidence). Friends of the Earth point out
that “on the equipment being ‘temporary’, we note the planning permission runs until
2049. On the mined sections being ‘permanently abandoned’, we note the proposal is
in fact to add water and cement to any mined rock and unsaleable coal to convert it into
paste, and for that paste to then “be pumped back underground for deposit in the void
spaces created by mining…WCM recently stated to the MMO: “On the basis that all
WCM will do under the seabed is extract coal (not construct, alter or improve anything
at all), the Act cannot apply” (emphasis in original quote).”
Clearly West Cumbria Mining are pushing hard to circumvent proper scrutiny and
regulatory control over the largest and most damaging part of the coal mine – the sub-
sea area under the Sellafield Mud Patch and just five miles from the Sellafield site.
Our own experience is as Friends of the Earth have pointed out “When consulted at
various stages from 2017 to 2020 on the planning application, the MMO declined to
comment. This was on the basis it would be reviewing potential impacts on the marine
environment through the marine licence application. And when asked by WCM in 2018
to review its marine environmental impact assessment, the MMO confirmed then that
“it has been established that [the offshore] works are licensable”. Other consultees,
such as the RSPB, also made their representations on the understanding that marine
impacts would be considered as part of a later marine licence application.”
The Planning Inspector in his recommendation to Government stated : “the risk of a
seismic event cannot be ruled out” however the Planning Inquiry afforded “limited
weight” to “future seismic events” presumably leaving this to scrutiny by the
Marine Management Organisation ( Report to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities by Stephen Normington BSc DipTP MRICS MRTPI FIQ FIHE
an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Date 7 April 2022- 21.245 )
This would be a coal mine like no other with its uniquely dangerous location underneath
the Sellafield Mud Patch and just five miles from the world’s largest stockpile of
plutonium. These are issues that have been sidelined up until now and West Cumbria
Mining are keen that these issues should continue to be dangerously sidelined.The CEO of West Cumbria Mining is Mark Kirkbride who was appointed to the
Committee on Radioactive Waste Management in 2019 to advise on construction of a
deep geological disposal facility for the UK’s heat generating nuclear wastes. Radiation
Free Lakeland note the worrying precedent of a government appointed “invaluable
advisor” seeking to actively circumvent regulatory controls over his coal mining
business interests.
Radiation Free Lakeland join with Friends of the Earth, the Nuclear Free Local
Authorities and Close Capenhurst Campaign in urging Westmorland and Furness
Council along with Cumberland Council to ensure Condition 22 maintains the
requirement of a Marine Licence from the Marine Management Organisation rather
than a rubber stamp with zero regulatory control and scrutiny over the potentially
catastrophic sub-sea aspects of the coal mine.
We would be very grateful if you could ensure that Westmorland and Furness Council
as the body with responsibility for Minerals and Waste, are urged to ensure that
Condition 22 is not watered down to a mere rubber stamp by the Council but that
WCM’s coal mine goes through due regulatory process with full Marine Licence
application.
Yours sincerely,
Marianne Birkby on behalf of Radiation Free Lakeland (address supplied)
It has taken a while to properly ponder this letter recieved via Tim Farron MP for Westmorland and Furness, from Andrew Bowie, Minister for Nuclear. In it the Minister for Nuclear accuses me of “harassment” of the CEO of West Cumbria Mining – this harassment amounts to four and a half letters worth written every year since 2020 regarding the alarming and continuing appointment of the coal mine CEO to advise Government on their Delivery of a Geological Disposal Facility for heat generating nuclear wastes. The letters and petition are largely to the Dept for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, now the Dept for Energy Security and Net Zero and ask for the removal of the Coal Boss from the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management – the UK Government’s expert voice on geological disposal of nuclear wastes.
The letter and petition of almost 2000 signatures can be seen here.
The reply from Andrew Bowie Minister for Nuclear and Renewables is below with some of my comments in red.
So far the media and it has to be said NGOs have barely raised an eyebrow about this preferring to focus on climate/steel/jobs aspects of the earthquake inducing coal mine just a few miles from what is likely to be the biggest pile of plutonium in the world (the plutonium is not earmarked for a deep geological disposal facility – that would be likely to stay right where it is on the Lake District coast)
Acid mine drainage pouring into Whitehaven Harbour
Join Us on March 11th in Whitehaven – Colour it Red – Art Event
Thanks to all for sharing and for donating to the crowdfund – we are an amazing 33% of the way towards our very modest target of £2000 which will enable art and science in the mission to help pinpoint the sources of the pollution and find out exactly what is happening in Whitehaven Harbour.
We would like to invite you to an art event to “Colour it Red” on the harbour at Queen’s Dock on Monday March 11th from 1pm to 3pm. Art materials will be provided for people to have a go at painting and drawing the orange and red pollution pouring into the beautiful Georgian harbour. The event aims to shine a light on the ‘under the radar’ unfolding environmental disaster with photos of the drawings to be sent to the authorities responsible for tackling the pollution, eg Coal Authority, Environment Agency and Network Rail.
What has Fukushima got to do with polluted minewater in Whitehaven?
The authorities here in the UK have carried out minimal testing of the Whitehaven minewater including failing to test for radioactivity. Radioactive elements are well documented as being present in acid minewater discharge.
Thanks to your help, dowsers have made initial investigations and scarily have found radioactive elements in the minewater. This is not unusual with deep mining. We will also investigate and compare these initial findings in the water with silt samples, with the assistance of a laboratory. We need to do so much more and with your help we can.
As well as the naturally occuring radioactive elements in the minewater pouring into Whitehaven there is another issue that has failed to be addressed and that is the continuing transport of nuclear wastes through the minewater damaged Bransty Tunnel enroute to Sellafield. The trains have been slowed to 10 miles an hour through the 1 km long tunnel to try and prevent splashback of the acid minewater onto the tunnel walls or the trains, this mitigation is a sticking plaster at best. We wonder why the tunnel is still being used when clearly there is a problem which could have catastrophic consequences (rather than using the now dangerously impacted Bransty Tunnel to get shot of wastes to Sellafield, nuclear wastes could stay on reactor sites in their own fuel ponds then dry cask storage ….and passengers could be bussed the 1km accross Whitehaven)
Event: Colour it Red
The event you are invited to will take place on Monday March 11th at the entrance to Queen’s Dock, Whitehaven opposite Wetherspoons from 1pm till 3pm. All abilities are welcome and there will be materials freely available for people to use. For those who cannot come along on the day people are invited to email their drawings to Wastwater@protonmail
Photographs of the drawings/paintings will be sent to the authorities responsible for the pollution pouring into the harbour in Whitehaven along with a letter including the Briefing below from marine expert Tim Deere-Jones. The Briefing indicates that the pollution pouring into the harbour is more than the sum of its already toxic parts given the inevitable naturally occuring radioactivity from the old mines and also the proximity of Sellafield’s man-made radioactive discharges.
Meanwhile Sellafield’s “Social Impact Multiplied” is pouring £millions of public money into projects to make “Whitehaven the tourist capital of the Cumbrian coastline.” Yes Whitehaven is the Jewel in the Crown of the Lake District coastline so Why aren’t £Millions being poured into finding the now damaged old mines causing this pollution and testing the harbour water and silt samples daily (rather than just a few times in over a year and in the case of the silt – not at all). It seems the authorities don’t want to know and expose the truth of what is happening.
We need to know in order to help Whitehaven Harbour and the ocean, survive.
Briefing below…
Synergistic effect of heavy metals from Coal Mine Acid water run off and ionising radioactivity
Coal mining acid water runoff is widely reported to contain a range of toxic (heavy) metals, leached from the surrounding rock strata as a result of acid leaching which dissolves the metals. The metals most commonly include copper, cadmium and lead and a number of other metals, usually at lower concentrations. These metals have enviro toxic characteristics and may be damaging to a number of marine species. The degree of damage will depend on both the intensity of the pollution and the duration of the exposure.
There can be no doubt that the exposures to marine life in the “near field” around the Whitehaven harbour have been both intense and prolonged and that the environmental impact of the metal toxicity will be significantly exacerbated by the smothering action of the particulate material in the runoff, which will be flocculating and sinking to the seabed as the “fresh” water discharge meets the saline marine water. I am not aware of any analysis of water sediment or marine life samples from “intermediate” or “far field” sites.
The presence of such metals is now shown to have a synergistic/additive effect with ionising radioactivity in the marine environment. A 2020 study investigated the interactive effects of ionising radiation and a toxic metal (copper/Cu) on both freshwater and marine bivalves (mussel). The study reported that doses of copper were added to differing concentrations of beta emitting Phosphorus 32 (0.1 and 1 micro sievert). Phosphorus 32 has a half-life of around 14 days and is widely used as a radioactive tracer in nuclear medicine.
The study reported that the copper had an “additive” effect on the Phosphorus 32 induced genotoxic response damage across species, cell types and dose rates. The additive effect included increased DNA damage and the expression of key stress related genes. REF: “Evaluation of interactive effects of phosphorus-32 and copper on marine and freshwater bivalve molluscs.” Jha Awadhesh et al’:International Journal of Radiation Biology : 6/10/2020
It can be proposed, in the absence of any information to the contrary, that other metals found in the Whitehaven acid mine water runoff may also have a similar synergistic/additive effect on regional marine species when coupled with ionising radioactivity.
The implications of this study for wildlife in the Whitehaven area are clear. The copper and other heavy metals present in the acid mine water run off entering the sea at, and via, Whitehaven harbour are shown to increase the impacts of the ionising radioactivity already present in the water column as a result of discharges from regional NPS and Reprocessing sites.
Tim Deere-Jones(Marine Radioactivity Research & Consultancy: Wales) February 2024
Frustrated with the lack of action by the authorities including the Coal Authority, Environment Agency and Network Rail, a citizen science crowdfund has been set up collaborating with experts to find and test the source/s of the pollution in order that it may be stopped.
Please donate if you can and or share to get the word out that this pollution into the harbour has been ongoing for over a year now with no end in sight.
I love Whitehaven with its Georgian architecture and beautiful sandstone harbour and have painted and drawn the wildlife and nearby clifftops there many times. But the harbour and the marine life of the supposedly ‘protected’ Marine Conservation Zones of the Solway and Irish Sea are now being visibly polluted day in and day out.
One Year On and the Pollution Continues
It is shocking that the authorities have dragged their feet for over a year now while the harbour fills with orange, acid waters from old mine workings. The Coal Authority initially said the pollution was not coming from old mineworkings but when we asked marine expert Tim Deere-Jones he said that: “I’d be very confident in raising coal mining as the source of the pollution It would certainly be relevant to demand that the mine owners, Environment Agency, Nuclear Waste Services et’ al’ get on the case and identify exactly where the contaminated water is coming from, boreholes? faults in the seabed geology? old mine workings on land?”
Avoiding the Answers By Not Asking the Questions?
Far from getting ‘on the case’ the authorities seem to be deliberately avoiding testing the polluted waters (only a few tests in over a year!) and there has been no sediment testing whatsoever.
Local MP Up In Arms?
The local MP is Trudy Harrison and if this was a harbour in the south you can bet the MP would have been agitating for this pollution to be national headline news. But this is West Cumbria and the MP here is agitating for Great British Coal and Great British Nuclear – both of which want to mine mass voids under the Irish Sea near Whitehaven. Drawing attention to the massive pollution that the existing honeycomb of old mines, under the land and sea, is causing is not in the interests of Coal or Nuclear.
HUGE Pollution
We only got sight of the results of the few tests the authorities have done through Freedom of Information requests. We showed the results to Dr Marco Kaltofen a US based environmental scientist with 30 years experience in environmental, workplace and product safety investigations. He said: “no wonder it turned orange, those iron levels are H U G E. Cadmium, ammonia, and other metals (including nickel) are all elevated as well. They should have tested for arsenic and mercury too, especially given the elevated cadmium; but they did not. I strongly suggest having mercury and arsenic tested in the water. A separate sample of suspended solids should also be collected and tested for all of these parameters (plus radium, thorium and uranium) in addition to the water sample already done.”
Short Term
Mitigation in the short term may be to add some kind of filtration system to the mine water before it enters the harbour and we cannot understand why this mitigation has not already happened given that this pollution has been pouring into the harbour for over a year now.
The Minewater Impacted Rail Tunnel
In the long term polluted mine water is building up beneath the town of Whitehaven and even impacting the rail tunnel which runs for 1km beneath the town. The trains have been slowed right down to 10 mph through the tunnel but this means the trains which include nuclear waste trains going to Sellafield are spending even longer in a mine water impacted tunnel. The speed limit is no real solution to this terrible scenario.
You can Help!
We are looking for funding to find some answers as to what is happening and will freely share the findings with the authorities who have been tasked with finding a solution but who have for the past year managed to achieve nothing tangible.
We will use all monies raised to:
Dowse for Answers
We have been in talks with dowsers who have already provided indications of answers as to the sources and flow of the mine water. Dowsing has been used by industry and organisations such as Thames Water to find answers where all other solutions have failed. Dowsers have carried out initial investigations remotely but need to come to Whitehaven to properly investigate what is happening. Dowsing is often described as an art not a science so we will marry art and science.
Scientific Tests
We will test sediment by collecting samples to send for analysis to an expert laboratory. The analysis will include far wider parameters than those set by the authorities (Network Rail, Coal Authority, Environment Agency) who have been tasked with finding out what is happening in the harbour but who have so far failed to stop or even mitigate the ongoing pollution. All the data collected as a result of fundraising will be shared with all the relevant authorities.
Please help find the answers so that the pollution in the harbour can be properly addressed and stopped.