Bentham, in North Yorkshire, is trying to discover how much of the town, and how many of its residents, have been exposed to toxic chemicals from PFAS in the environment. Now, a residents’ group dubbed Cleaner Bentham, is pushing for funds to begin local blood screening tests.
Mat Young, the chair of Cleaner Bentham told me that 45 individuals have already stepped forward to undergo the screening and that a location with doctors and phlebotomists had been sourced. Young said, “We are working towards a grant application for testing of bloods due to a lack of response from Angus Fire to support the community in getting them done (currently costing $20,000 for 40 people)”.
His statement continues:“We are … discussing with several academics the potential of having research done into the environment and health issues … so we have turned to an American company to do testing on volunteers’ bloods, as no European or British labs are available (or exist).
“More recently we have spoken to Manchester University to cost running an epidemiology research study on the 3,000 residents of Bentham (those who wish to join in). We then plan to expand this down the pollution route of the rivers Wenning and Lune into Morecambe Bay.
“We have applied for two grants: one of £134,000 to cover running costs and environmental testing for the next year, and one for £10,000 to help pay for the blood testing. We are focusing on fundraising as we would like to make this an English research project …The biggest issue we are facing currently is short term funding until we get in those costs.”
‘Forever chemicals’
In short, PFAS, that is per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of over 10,000 artificial chemicals used in both consumer and industrial applications. They are often called ‘forever chemicals’ because they don’t easily break down in the environment. Awareness of PFAS, and the dangers posed by some of them, does appear to be growing in the UK.
Some PFAS have been linked to human diseases, including a range of cancers. Professor Patrick Byrne, of the school of biological and environmental sciences at Liverpool John Moores University told Yorkshire Bylines:
“Unfortunately, the same chemical properties that make them useful to us make them extremely persistent in the environment. Most PFAS are not known to degrade, hence are forever chemicals. They have been accumulating in wildlife and humans for decades and an overwhelming body of evidence indicates these substances are harmful – the most studied compounds are classified carcinogenic.”
How bad is Bentham’s pollution?
Campaigners are concerned that the town’s fire-fighting foam manufacturer, Angus Fire Limited, may have been a primary cause of pollution in the town and have engaged legal representation to uncover more information.
In a public statement to the town council in January of this year, Angus Fire commented, “As you know, we have established that the ‘western’ part of our facility – close to the lagoons and redundant foam plant – has some PFAS contamination”.
Last year, in July, they had responded to a Cleaner Bentham written question as follows: “We are not denying there has been some historic PFAS contamination on the Bentham site, but it’s important not to panic or sensationalise the matter, especially when key facts have not yet been established.”
However, despite running its own analysis, Angus Fire seems even now to be unclear as to the extent of the PFAS pollution, as their statement runs: “Angus is working urgently and diligently, as it has been for a number of years, to establish the extent of any PFAS chemical contamination at its Bentham factory site and, more recently, in surrounding areas.”
Contaminated air, water and soil
Surrounding areas, including playing fields, agricultural land, and residential developments were all found to have PFAS readings in the soil, as noted in this map provided by Angus Fire. Contaminated soil, groundwater and air are all possible vectors which need to be investigated fully, to truly understand whether this problem is limited to Bentham, or whether it extends much further afield.
Professor Byrne outlined some possible scenarios of the extent of the pollution, using groundwater data for his analysis. He said:
“There is clearly some pollution of the groundwater at the site. The critical question now is if the PFAS in the groundwater are being dispersed in the wider environment. I can see three potential scenarios. The pollution may be contained at the site, it may be dispersing in the groundwater but not yet reached the nearby river system, or it has reached the nearby river system.”
He pointed out that in the latter case, it would be important to determine what quantity the site is contributing to overall PFAS loads in the river, saying: “This is especially important considering there are likely to be PFAS sources to the river upstream of the site.”
Possible containment
In a public statement to Bentham Town Council, Angus Fire said their priority was to contain the PFAS pollution on site, but it may be that the opportunity for this has already passed:
“Our objective remains to ensure that this contamination is contained on site and whilst we await the arrival of the new stormwater treatment plant, we continue to capture and store surface water run-off from impacted areas.
“We have recently been informed that the stormwater treatment facility has been delayed in transit (due to sea freight issues) and will now arrive in Bentham at the start of March. We will then need a few weeks for installation and testing before the equipment is fully operational.
“We estimate that it will take us approximately eight months to process all of the collected stormwater, on top of any regular rainfall that adds to the already captured volumes.”
Campaigners were concerned by the delay, reading that the new facility might not be operational until April. They also raised questions about what would then happen to the surface water run-off and how it would be disposed of safely, worried that the local river Wenning could be used for this ‘diluted’ PFAS water, or that a third party waste-management company could be used, which might not be equipped to deal with PFAS disposal.
PFAS now a UK and international issue
Mat Young of Cleaner Bentham is determined to keep the PFAS profile high over the coming weeks and months. He told me, “In the next few weeks our media campaign kicks up a gear, we have upcoming podcasts on the Ends Report with Pippa Neill (the journalist who broke this story) BBC Radio 4 and BBC Health Worldwide.
“We are also in talks about running a conference mid this year, which is in the very early stages of planning. We have asked Robert Bilott [the lawyer who took on DuPont over the PFAS scandal in North Carolina, in the 1990s] if he would speak and he has agreed.”
So it seems more national and international attention will be focusing on Bentham in the coming years – but concerns about PFAS exposure are not going to be limited to one small town in Yorkshire. Worrying incidents like the one in the USA and the efforts of campaigning bodies such as the Forever Pollution Project in Europe, which seeks to ban routine use of these chemicals, are having their effect on the public consciousness.
Before too long, towns and cities around the world may well be pushing for their own ‘Bentham moment’.
