Coalite..Bolsover, Derbyshire, October 2019

[Hayman]

I believe the worst chemical pollutants here were PolyChlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) which can lead to cancers and the disfiguring skin condition Chloracne which some of the locals contracted. I worked on a neighbouring local paper and knew the Derbyshire Times reporter who covered the story and as a consequence earned the nickname 'Cloracne Kid'.

Since biphenyl is derived from coal tar, this may explain the link of PCBs with the Coalite site. On the matter of health, with ammonia being one of the byproducts at the Christchurch gasworks, and it always being in the air, I was told people employed there never got colds. And ammonia is usually a constituent of smelling salts.

 

[Bamber]

I heard from a friend who worked on the batteries, the byproduct was used for agent orange in Vietnam. He said they turned up for work one morning and the guard was locking the gate and said that they had closed, and it was left as it was.when I had a creep around, there were printouts still in the computer, and letters left on a desk still unopened.