UK - The full facts about whether or not a public inquiry took place about Camelford water poisoning.
I'm very grateful to Doug Cross for giving me the full facts about whether or not a public inquiry took place about Camelford water poisoning. Best, Ann
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By Doug Cross.
As the most deeply involved person alive, I can tell your corrrespondents what the correct situation is.
Firstly, there has been NO public inquiry into the incident. The first investigation was an internal assessment by Dr John Lawrence, into the Water Authority's handling of the affair. Shortly after this was followed by a police inquiry into whether or not any criminal activities had been involved.
The Government was then forced to set up the Clayton Committee in 1989, which visited Camelford for one day, interviewed seven people, then produced a report stating, in effect, that it was all psychological and there was nothing to worry about. We forced them to reveiw their position in 1991, when they issued a much more aggressive report reiterating their original view. The Water Authority was prosecuted for 'causing a public nuisance' in 1991.
Michaeal Meacher set up the most recent study by the Committee on Toxicity (CoT) in 2001, of which I was a Member. We released our draft Report in January 2005, preceeded by two days by an unauthorised Press Release from the Department of Health without our knowledge or consent, that virtually repeated the already discredited Clayton Committee's conclusions of 1989 and 1991. The new CoT sub-group was allegedly totally independent from the DoH. The current furore over the CoT report is due to my colleague and fellow member Peter Smith and my refusal to accept the final report and to go public over the outrageous initial cover-up, the continuous attempts to down-play emerging evidence of delayed and long-term medical damage, and subsequent attempts to subvert the latest study. The Coroner's decision to order a police inquiry is at least partly founded on evidence that I have given him of this deliberate attempt to conceal the inpacts of the incident on the public, and of the consequential extreme effects on at least some local people.
At no time has there been any Public Inquiry into the incident. A Public Inquiry has the power to ORDER witnesses to appear and to provide evidence, under cross-examination, and with legal sanctions if they refuse. None of the past studies, including the current CoT study, has had such powers. The Clayton study was a grotesque parody, deliberately designed to silence local concerns. It was reinforced by the Establishment when Wessley's publication of 'The legend of Camelford' was released - this is the psychiatrist who claims that almost all of the results of chemical poisoning are down to 'psychogenic' factors - it's all in the mind! (The paper is on the web and easy to find).
There must now be a full police inquiry, with legal powers to delve deeply into the antics of politicians who were involved in the protection of the water industry before privatisation. They must also investigate the medical services that went along with the claim that aluminium can't be absorbed into the blood when they were entirely aware that this was not true (Edwardson had warned the Clayton Committee of the existance of what he called 'super-absorbers' of aluminium in February 1989, but this evidence was never released publicly, despite its crucial relevance). On this basis the defence in the Water Authority trial was able to convince even the Judge that there could not be any medical damage as the result of the incident.
This saga will continue to run and hit the front pages. I for one am determined that this is exactly what will happen until we finally get the full story out into the open, and the damage to the people of North Cornwall, and the ten thousand unknown visitors caught up in the trauma, is recognised for the disastrous poisoning that it really was.
Doug Cross
---
By Doug Cross.
As the most deeply involved person alive, I can tell your corrrespondents what the correct situation is.
Firstly, there has been NO public inquiry into the incident. The first investigation was an internal assessment by Dr John Lawrence, into the Water Authority's handling of the affair. Shortly after this was followed by a police inquiry into whether or not any criminal activities had been involved.
The Government was then forced to set up the Clayton Committee in 1989, which visited Camelford for one day, interviewed seven people, then produced a report stating, in effect, that it was all psychological and there was nothing to worry about. We forced them to reveiw their position in 1991, when they issued a much more aggressive report reiterating their original view. The Water Authority was prosecuted for 'causing a public nuisance' in 1991.
Michaeal Meacher set up the most recent study by the Committee on Toxicity (CoT) in 2001, of which I was a Member. We released our draft Report in January 2005, preceeded by two days by an unauthorised Press Release from the Department of Health without our knowledge or consent, that virtually repeated the already discredited Clayton Committee's conclusions of 1989 and 1991. The new CoT sub-group was allegedly totally independent from the DoH. The current furore over the CoT report is due to my colleague and fellow member Peter Smith and my refusal to accept the final report and to go public over the outrageous initial cover-up, the continuous attempts to down-play emerging evidence of delayed and long-term medical damage, and subsequent attempts to subvert the latest study. The Coroner's decision to order a police inquiry is at least partly founded on evidence that I have given him of this deliberate attempt to conceal the inpacts of the incident on the public, and of the consequential extreme effects on at least some local people.
At no time has there been any Public Inquiry into the incident. A Public Inquiry has the power to ORDER witnesses to appear and to provide evidence, under cross-examination, and with legal sanctions if they refuse. None of the past studies, including the current CoT study, has had such powers. The Clayton study was a grotesque parody, deliberately designed to silence local concerns. It was reinforced by the Establishment when Wessley's publication of 'The legend of Camelford' was released - this is the psychiatrist who claims that almost all of the results of chemical poisoning are down to 'psychogenic' factors - it's all in the mind! (The paper is on the web and easy to find).
There must now be a full police inquiry, with legal powers to delve deeply into the antics of politicians who were involved in the protection of the water industry before privatisation. They must also investigate the medical services that went along with the claim that aluminium can't be absorbed into the blood when they were entirely aware that this was not true (Edwardson had warned the Clayton Committee of the existance of what he called 'super-absorbers' of aluminium in February 1989, but this evidence was never released publicly, despite its crucial relevance). On this basis the defence in the Water Authority trial was able to convince even the Judge that there could not be any medical damage as the result of the incident.
This saga will continue to run and hit the front pages. I for one am determined that this is exactly what will happen until we finally get the full story out into the open, and the damage to the people of North Cornwall, and the ten thousand unknown visitors caught up in the trauma, is recognised for the disastrous poisoning that it really was.
Doug Cross
posted by Bill at
10:27 AM
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