A CORONER has criticised the cover-up which followed Britain's worst water poisoning, saying the former South West Water Authority had been "gambling" with the lives of 20,000 people.
West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose lambasted the authority as he gave his detailed verdict on the death of 59-year-old Carole Cross.
Mrs Cross, and her scientist husband Doug, were living in the Camelford area in July 1988 when the water supply was contaminated with 20 tons of acidic aluminium sulphate.
After her death in 2004, Mrs Cross was found to have almost unprecedented levels of aluminium in her brain. She died of a rare disorder, usually associated with much older people suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
In his lengthy narrative verdict, Mr Rose said there was a "very real possibility" that the ingestion of aluminium by Mrs Cross had contributed to her death.
The coroner described the failure to properly advise those affected as a serious dereliction of duty and that the decision to keep the public in the dark for more than two weeks may have been influenced by the impending privatisation of the industry.
"There are, of course, few people who can say that at one stage of their lives they have not kept quiet about a serious error they have made in the hope that either it would not be detected, or more likely they had been able to remedy the error and no one was worse for it," said Mr Rose.
"However, in the present case, they were in fact gambling with as many as 20,000 lives. As only a few people knew the real effect of aluminium going into the public water supply, such information should not have been withheld."
Mr Rose also said he had concerns about the actions at the time of then authority chairman, Keith Court, who has died since giving evidence to the inquest.
"At the end of the day I had no real explanation why he had not ensured that the relevant public health authorities were advised of the problem," Mr Rose said.
"I found there was a deliberate policy to not advise the public of the true nature until some 16 days after the occurrence of the incident.
"Although Mr Court strongly denied the forthcoming privatisation of the industry was a factor that he took into consideration, I still have the deepest suspicion that perhaps it was, even subconsciously, though I fully accept there was no discussion between the more senior officers of the authority to this effect."
Lord Tyler of Linkinhorne, former Lib Dem MP for North Cornwall, said he would seek a meeting with Richard Benyon, Minister for the Natural Environment and Fisheries, following the ruling.
He told the Cornish Guardian: "I think the immediate follow-up is to find out who is going to take responsibility for this."
The incident was sparked by relief delivery driver John Stephens, who delivered the load of aluminium sulphate to the unmanned Lowermoor water treatment works on the edge of Bodmin Moor.
He inadvertently tipped the chemical directly into the supply, serving properties stretching from Boscastle to Port Isaac, rather than a holding tank.
Hundreds of complaints were made to the authority, with people reporting their water had turned black and was curdling the milk in their tea, while one woman reported that her husband's hair was stuck together after a having bath.
In the days that followed, many people reported rashes, diarrhoea, mouth ulcers and other health problems after drinking the water or bathing in it.
The water authority, though, insisted the water was safe to drink, telling people to mix it with orange juice, and, it was claimed, to boil the water, which would actually have increased the levels of aluminium further.
Mr Rose said the decision not to tell the public until July 21 was in the mistaken belief that the flushing of the system – into the Rivers Camel and Allen, killing tens of thousands of fish – had removed the excessive aluminium from the drinking water.
Mrs Cross, a talented artist who later moved to Dulverton in Somerset, died in Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital. She suffered from the rare neurological disease congophilic amyloid angiopathy, which caused a rapid decline in her health.
Mr Rose said: "From July 9, for a few days, Mrs Cross ingested a quantity of aluminium, precise measurements of which are not possible, because of the failure of the authority to ensure the public were encouraged to give urine and blood samples.
"I also regard the failure of the authority to visit every house after the incident to advise them to thoroughly flush their systems as a serious dereliction of duty. I can say that the incident may either have contributed to or possibly caused Mrs Cross's death, but I do not have sufficient evidence to say so conclusively."
The coroner added there was no reason for anyone living in the Camelford area at the time of the disaster to fear they might also become a victim as Mrs Cross's case was "unlikely to be replicated elsewhere".
Further research needed into effects of incident
FURTHER research should be carried out on what effects the pollution in Cornwall may have had, the coroner recommended on Wednesday.
Michael Rose, the Coroner for West Somerset, said at the end of the latest seven days of evidence that he would be writing to the chairman of the Lowermoor Sub-Group of the Committee on Toxicity, set up to investigate the long-term health consequences of the poisoning, on the issue.
That was supported by Mrs Cross’s widower Doug, a member of the committee, who now lives in Cumbria and was unable to attend Wednesday’s hearing in Taunton.
Key evidence was given to the inquest by Professor Chris Exley, from Keele University, who has studied the effects of aluminium for 25 years.
He told the hearing in 2010 it was “highly likely” the high concentrations of aluminium in Mrs Cross’s brain contributed to the early onset of the disease.
Giving evidence last week, when the inquest resumed after a break of more than a year, he said: “The amount of aluminium in her brain is of an order rarely seen and only previously seen in cases of aluminium toxicity.”
He added that he had studied samples of more than 100 brains and “Carole Cross has the record” in terms of amounts of the metal.
His evidence in 2010 and that of Margaret Esiri, emeritus professor of neuropathology at the University of Oxford, prompted an adjournment to allow South West Water Authority time to seek its own expert evidence.
Dr Cross said in a statement: “Today’s verdict comes after eight years of fighting to discover the truth about what happened to my wife Carole.
“I wish to express my gratitude to professors Chris Exley and Margaret Esiri, whose support throughout these hearings has been invaluable.
“I hope today’s verdict prompts further study of the long-term effects of the Camelford incident, to give reassurance to my friends and neighbours in the town.”
‘Proper inquiry’ sought by MP
NORTH CORNWALL MP Dan Rogerson has called for a full inquiry into the water poisoning incident at Camelford Lowermoor in July 1988 in light of the verdict into the tragic death of Carole Cross.
Twenty tonnes of aluminium sulphate were accidentally dumped into drinking water at the Lowermoor treatment plant near Camelford nearly 23 years ago.
On Wednesday the West Somerset Coroner, Michael Rose, gave his verdict that it was a “very real possibility” that the death of Carole Cross – who died in 2004 and who had been living in the Camelford area at the time of the incident – was due to the ingestion of aluminium.
The coroner criticised the water company for gambling with the lives of 20,000 people in the area by not telling local residents about the accident for a fortnight and said he was deeply suspicious about the way the accident was handled in light of the impending privatisation of the water industry.
Speaking in the House of Commons during the Third Reading of the Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill – which seeks to rectify the high cost of water bills in Devon and Cornwall due to what he describes as the botched privatisation of the water industry – Mr Rogerson urged the Government to hold a proper inquiry into the incident.
After his speech, Mr Rogerson said: “The second great injustice during the time of water privatisation was the cover-up over the Lowermoor incident.
“People in North Cornwall will want to reflect on what the coroner has said.
“In light of the coroner’s verdict, I have called on the Government to listen and act by holding a proper inquiry into the affair. I hope that this will mark the start of a thorough investigation into the incident so that people who have been affected can finally get some answers.”
He paid tribute to Doug Cross, Carole Cross’s widower, for his tireless work on behalf of those affected.
source: thisiscornwall.co.uk
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