Cllr Philip Booth again raises the risks of transporting Hexafluorosilic acid on our roads with County Emergency Officers - see his letter here on his blog today. Below is the original letter sent by the Safe Water Campaign to Emergency Officers and services in the region:
Dear XXXXX I am writing this open letter on behalf of the Safe Water Campaign for Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, which has gathered many thousands of signatures locally from those who are opposed to artificial fluoridation of our public water supplies. I, and others, in the group have undertaken an in-depth study of the literature and research papers into the properties and effects of fluoride compounds. We are very concerned about the extraordinary toxicity, reactivity and corrosiveness of hexafluorosilic acid (H2SiF6) which is the predominant agent used to artificially fluoridate 10% of Britain's public water supplies. Government's plans to extend fluoridation to further large areas of Britain will mean many more hundreds of tons of hexafluorosilic acid on our roads. In the light of this we hope you will be able to answer our concerns that are directly relevant to our Emergency services: 1. Are you aware of the following incidents? - On Gloucestershire's doorstep at Avonmouth in 2001? A portable tank of hexafluorosilic acid was damaged in transit from Bilbao in Spain. On discovery, the port authority declared a 'Port Emergency' and a 'Major Incident' which resulted in much of the port being shut down for about 30 hours. Details obtained by the National Pure Water Association (NPWA) show this incident was a hairs breadth away from being a major life-taking catastrophe. - Florida, USA, 6th September 1994 there was an accident involving a truck carrying 4,500 gallons of hexafluorosilic acid. It's entire contents were spilled out onto the public highway. 87 people including police and other Emergency workers had to be hospitalised for treatment for up to 6 weeks. 300 tons of fluoride contaminated dirt needed to be removed. The accident occurred during rain and the operation only just managed to prevent contamination of groundwater and aquifers. 2. What contact do you have with the water authorities concerning the transportation of hexafluorosilic acid? Do the water authorities fluoridating at present (e.g. Severn Trent in the Birmingham area) have any legal obligation to inform Emergency Authorities, such as yourselves, when and where trucks carrying hexafluorosilic acid are travelling on our roads? Or have the water authorities contacted you on a voluntary basis about the transportation of this class 8 chemical on our roads? Or do you have no contact? 3. Are you aware of the following well-documented facts that no doubt are of considerable concern for the Emergency Services? - Extreme risks re contact with tarmac and vegetation. Hexafluorosilic acid is a by-product of the artificial fertiliser industry. The fertiliser is produced by the chemical breakdown of phosphate-bearing rock. In the process hydrogen fluoride is given off in considerable quantities. This is generally acknowledged by scientists to be the most highly reactive and corrosive compound known to us. This gas is then passed through 'scrubber towers' (the trade name) where it is chemically combined with silica to form hexafluorosilic acid. Concentrated hexafluorosilic acid spilled onto a road reacts with the tarmac to reform the very dangerous hydrogen fluoride gas. After the accident in Florida 600 feet of motorway had to be resurfaced. There is evidence that a concentration of one billionth of hydrogen fluoride can and has devastated large areas of vegetation. - Highly poisonous. Fluoride is such a cumulative poison with 50 percent of all that is ingested being retained in the body for life. In concentrated form in a single dose can lead to death within 24 hours. The acknowledged world expert at the time, Roholm established that the cause of the first major recorded environmental disaster was hydrogen fluoride. This occurred in the Meuse Valley near Brussels in 1930 where 60 people died and 6,000 people were made severely ill. - Causes cancer. Hexafluorosilic acid used for artificial water fluoridation is a waste product of the fertiliser industry, obtained by breaking down phosphate rock which has such a high uranium content that until recently the nuclear industry in the US used it as a source for nuclear fuel! The NPWA has written confirmation from the U.S. Public Health Service (1998) regarding the presence of 'radionuclides' in hexafluorosilic acid used in the water fluoridation plants. Detailed descriptions show, quite alarmingly, that the break-down of products from the phosphate rock, when artificial fertiliser is manufactured, include a whole 'bevy' of radioactive or otherwise highly poisonous substances. Predominant among them is Radon 210. This substance has a deep and well-hidden 'biography'. After this radioactive gas is produced, it dissolves readily in the hexafluorosilic acid when it passes with all the other break down products into the scrubber towers. The Radon has a half-life of 3.86 days. This means it turns quite rapidly and seemingly innocuously into its decay product Lead 210. Lead 210. as far as is known, has no damaging radiation, but carries with it the property of combining as readily and eagerly with the human bones as calcium itself does. Scientists tell us that after 20 years lead 210 transmutes into polonium 210 which then gives off 5,000 more alpha radiation than radium. Scientists estimate that a mere 6.8 trillionth of a gram (0.0000000000068gm) can cause cancer. How unlikely is it that those people including police and other Emergency workers who were hospitalised for the full six weeks after the accident in Florida are not right now harbouring lead 210 which in 9 years time would be due to transmute into deadly polonium? (All this in the cause of supposedly helping young children have somewhat less tooth decay.) 4. What plans do you have to deal with an event involving a major spillage of hexafluorosilic acid on Gloucestershire's roads? Are all the Emergency services aware of the very considerable dangers of such an incident? Do you for example, have specific plans for dealing with potentially thousands of tons of radioactive fluoride-contaminated earth? Surely poor disposal could lead to further very considerable health risks and dangers? We would appreciate a speedy and thorough reply to these questions. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need further information or would like to discuss the matter further. Yours faithfully, James Christian, Safe Water Campaign for Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
