Government will ‘reflect carefully’ on public health investigation into Corby illnesses
Wes Streeting has told Corby MP Lee Barron it is important North Northamptonshire Council is transparent and open about the disposal of Corby’s toxic waste.
By Sarah Ward
Health secretary Wes Streeting has told Corby’s MP that his department ‘will reflect carefully’ on findings of an investigation currently being carried out by the North unitary’s public health boss into Corby’s childhood cancer rates.
The issue of the disposal of toxic waste and its potential health legacy is once more the subject of public attention and following recent comments made in parliament, Lee Barron MP has this week received a letter from the Labour health secretary indicating that his department is taking a keen interest in the case.
North Northamptonshire Council’s director of Public Health Jane Bethea has been undertaking analysis of childhood cancer rates in the town following a request by families. They are concerned their children’s cancer could be linked to the clean up of large swathes of the town’s industrial heartland which had been contaminated by dangerous pollutants from the steelworks, which stopped production in 1980.
In 2009 a group of families whose children were born with physical defects won a legal battle against the former Corby Borough Council and there are concerns the toxic waste it is still causing birth defects and other health issues today.
In his letter to Lee Barron, Wes Streeting said:
“It is vital that families feel their voices are heard and that public bodies are transparent and accountable in addressing matters of significant public interest. The authorities in Corby must be transparent about the disposal of toxic waste water and the long lasting damage this has had on families.
“I am told that this issue is currently being considered by the local director of public health and the Department will reflect carefully on the findings of that work once complete. I will keep in touch with you about this.”
However while the council’s public health boss is doing her investigations into childhood cancer rates, the authority is currently refusing to answer lawyer Des Collins’ questions about contaminated waste in the town and where it is. It said last month that disclosure would not be in the public interest.
The clean up saw areas that had contained large toxic ponds drained and taken to the large Deene Quarry - which now sites Rockingham Motor Speedway - but the 2009 legal action established there were serious issues with the reclamation and health and safety procedures were not followed. There are now concerns that toxic waste may also have been illegally dumped in areas of the town where it should not have been deposited.
Lee Barron told NN Journal today:
“It is good to now know that it is being monitored by the central government. So we have just got to make sure now that the families get the answers that we believe they are entitled to and that means the local authority being transparent.
“The longer it goes on, the more people are coming forward and I think that is just going to carry on.”
He said his office was liaising with the families. His office is also working with a national charity to undertake a widespread sampling of the town’s water to assess whether there are high levels of heavy metals.
Tracey Taylor, whose daughter Shelby died aged just four days old in 1996, was part of the original legal case and her testimony about working on the nearby industrial estate and experiencing the dust from the clean up, was crucial in securing the 2009 victory.
Together with Maggie Mahon, whose son was born with club feet, she is helping other families to try and get answers.
She said:
“Our campaign is going really well and we are getting more and more people come forward. I feel like we are finally being heard.”
NN Journal’s website now has a section dedicated to Corby’s toxic waste legacy. Read more here.