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PROGRESSIVE SUPRANUCLEAR PALSY

‘PSP’ CLUSTER, BRYNHYFRYD, GLYNNEATH

https://youtu.be/2X2tkxPI6rE

  

This document has been submitted to the following organisations, none of whom have acknowledged receipt, provided counter evidence or disputed its conclusion.

Natural Resources Wales, Neath-Port Talbot Council, Glynneath Town Council.

   

http://www.walk-around-wales.com/county/npt/glynneath/enzo-development/archive/2021/05-2021/20210501A-DO-EGRA-psp-report-plain.pdf

CLICK HERE for a link to this document on-line

 

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23-title.jpg (310748 bytes)   TITLE IMAGE
01.jpg (152432 bytes) 05-dc-small.jpg (52121 bytes) PROGRESSIVE SUPRANUCLEAR PALSY - ‘PSP’ CLUSTER, BRYNHYFRYD, GLYNNEATH
02.jpg (229243 bytes)   This draft report is submitted to the relevant authorities for consideration in order that they can provide contrary evidence to the information contained within, or to take the appropriate actions to prevent further deaths of East Glynneath residents from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and other illnesses related to the contamination at the Heol y Glyn landfill site in Glynneath. In the last 5 years, 20% of properties in Brynhyfryd with long term occupancy bordering the Heol y Glyn landfill site have recorded deaths from rare neurological disorders. This report concludes that:
03.jpg (160468 bytes)   “Residents of Brynhyfryd are dying from the rare neurological disorder
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. These deaths are almost certainly due to
specified and other probable unspecified contamination tipped at the Heol y Glyn
landfill site. Public officers who have covered up this contamination are potentially
responsible for the unlawful killing of these residents.”
04.jpg (173497 bytes)   This report has been commissioned by members of the East Glynneath – Residents Against Contamination group

The content was prepared by David Richards of

Rugby Relics Ltd, 66 Brynhyfryd, Glynneath, Neath, SA11 5BA

www.rugbyrelics.com

for the

EAST GLYNNEATH RESIDENTS AGAINST CONTAMINATION GROUP
“Fighting for the right to stay alive” 

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BACKGROUND

Our street 'Brynhyfryd' borders the Heol y Glyn landfill site that has planning permission
for a housing development. Brynhyfryd is a street of 62 houses, 17 of which border the
development directly. 15 of the houses bordering the site I believe have long term (10
years +) occupancy. I have not undertaken extensive research into the illnesses and
disorders of the complete street or even of all 15 houses but already have identified
within those 15 residencies, 2 deaths from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, instances of
cancer, sudden heart attacks, a birth mutation and another extremely rare neurological
disorder, Superficial Siderosis. This report only deals with the instances of PSP in
Brynhyfryd.

06.jpg (338717 bytes)   AUTHOR NOTE: My role is to support the residents in our group and have not yet
extended my research beyond those that have contacted me and volunteered
information. It is not known if other residents in the area have been affected and if the
PSP cluster is extended beyond Brynhyfryd to other parts of Glynneath and the
surrounding area. This is for the relevant authorities to investigate and to take any
appropriate action on the conclusion of their investigation. If the relevant authorities fail to
observe the purpose of their existence in supporting the members of the East Glynneath
Residents Against Contamination group then I will make this information available to the
wider public and highlight their accountability for the negative outcomes of this failure to
act upon information provided to them that is pertinent to their existence.
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PROGRESSIVE SUPRANUCLEAR PALSY


I was made aware of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy in March 2021 by the daughter of a
deceased parent of one of the East Glynneath Residents Against Contamination group.
She indicated that a near neighbour, also part of the group had also died of the same
neurological disorder, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. I undertook initial research on the
subject and found that it was a rare disorder and that a potential cluster had occurred in
our street.
In early April 2021 I confirmed the cause of death of the two PSP residents by collecting
resident testimonies on video and death certificate information. Both residents featured in
the death certificate illustration that follows died of pneumonia, a complication which is
caused by the neurological disorder Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (source NHS
website). 

08.jpg (220220 bytes) 04-dc-large.jpg (108676 bytes) relevant information on two Brynhyfryd residents’ death certificates
09.jpg (295693 bytes)   The incidences or national average of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy cases occurring in
the UK are 1 in 100,000 people per year. Glynneath is a town of just under 5,000 people.
This being the case, the expected incident rate of PSP occurring in Glynneath is
approximately 1 case in every 20 years or 2 cases in 40. That 2 cases have occurred in a
group of 5 houses and that both cases were diagnosed within a period of 2 years of each
other is a serious cause for concern and as such these incidences must be considered a
‘cluster’.
We take the meaning of a cluster here to be:

"A cluster is the occurrence of a greater than expected number of cases of a particular
disease within a group of people, a geographic area, or a period of time." 

10.jpg (452481 bytes)  03-12-contam-deaths.jpg (242576 bytes)  06-12-contam-deaths.jpg (656448 bytes) Locations of rare neurological disorder deaths in Brynhyfryd houses bordering the Heol y Glyn landfill site.
11.jpg (213363 bytes)   Research into Progressive Supranuclear Palsy clusters by relevant health professionals
with an interest in the disorder show that the only previously recorded cluster of PSP is in
the French town of Wattrelos, a scientific paper published in relation to the cluster
concluded that:

"We have identified a cluster of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy in a geographical area
with severe environmental contamination by industrial metals."
  

I have taken the following quotes from the same published scientific peer reviewed paper
which are relevant to the Glynneath cluster:

12.jpg (314624 bytes)   "Wattrelos is a town in northern France where textile dyeing plants and tanneries
operated for most of the 20th century, using arsenic and chromate from the nearby
chemical plants. Arsenic and hexavalent chromium contamination have been
documented in the soils of the sites of former plants in Wattrelos and Leers, where the
cluster of PSP cases described in this report live."

"Arsenic, a potential neurotoxin, has been found in the soil at the sites of the former
chemical plants in Wattrelos and is present in the phosphate ore formerly processed
there, as described also in [Arsenic pollution in Multan] Pakistan. Contamination with 
chromium is common in Wattrelos, but we consider it to be a less likely candidate as a
neurotoxin although a synergistic toxicity with arsenic is possible."

Both chromium and arsenic have been found in chemical testing at the Heol y Glyn
landfill site along with other contaminants. Cuddy Group Ltd, the demolition company that
previously owned the site had demolition contracts within the steel industry and chemical
industry during the period in which they tipped at the site (2003-2016). They were
specialists in the removal of asbestos and there are resident’s eyewitness reports of
asbestos being tipped at the site and sealed barrels potentially containing toxic waste
being buried deep at the site. 

The Cuddy Group regularly excavated deep holes in which
to tip waste suggesting that they didn't want the contents of a particular consignment of
waste to be discovered or tested.

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REPORTS OF CONTAMINATION & TESTING


The site was chemically tested in 2008 and found to be contaminated. This contamination
should have been remediated as suggested by the geo-technical report in which it was
contained. However, this information was withdrawn from the planning process, it then
remained hidden in the council archives until I discovered it in 2020. There is no record of
site remediation or conditions imposed in future planning permissions in relation to this
identified contamination.
Subsequent research into the Neath Port Talbot Council Contaminated Land Strategy
and Environment Agency documentation of the period shows that the council had a duty
to investigate the identified contamination further. Failure to do so breached the 1990
Environmental Protection Act. Both the Glynneath Town Council and Neath Port Talbot
Council were informed of this breach in April 2020 and we (East Glynneath Residents
Against Contamination) submitted a draft report to the Neath Port Talbot Council
Planning Committee for consideration prior to a meeting on 8 September 2020.

14.jpg (415865 bytes)   Additional to our draft report, during the planning committee meeting of 8 September
2020, the current Neath Port Talbot Contaminated Land Officer confirmed the breach of
the 1990 Environmental Protection Act by indicating that the testing of the land in 2008
was very limited, the sampling shallow and his opinion was that the testing was not
sufficient enough considering the site as a whole.

This confirmed the findings of the EGRAC draft report submitted to the Planning
Committee for that meeting that because the land was identified as a danger to human
health in 2008 further chemical testing should have taken place as required by this UK
Government law. The council’s failure to do so is a clear breach of the 1990
Environmental Protection Act and of the purpose for its existence which is “to serve and
represent the interests of its citizens and communities” 

15.jpg (328030 bytes)   Neath Port Talbot Council have failed to respond to the submitted report and have also
refused to provide evidence of due diligence taken in relation to the findings of the report.
They have refused to provide any further relevant information even when Freedom of
Information requests have been made.
16.jpg (248504 bytes) 17.jpg (340145 bytes) 02-epa.jpg (74737 bytes) The Heol y Glyn landfill site has been misrepresented on the Local Development Plan to
show it as a suitable location for a housing development. It is a former ‘council’ ash tip
and so historically the land has been used as both a domestic and industrial landfill site
for the majority of the last 80 years. There were several years of unregulated tipping at
the site by the former owners, the Cuddy Group. The Cuddy group was a specialist
industrial waste disposal company and at one time was billed as the 12th largest
demolition company in the world. The combination of the historic domestic tipping and the
more recent unregulated industrial tipping, together with a failure to treat contamination
when identified at the site in accordance with the land contamination protocol are
evidence factors that suggest the contamination is the probable cause for the deaths of
the two residents with the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy disorder.
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RELEVANT AUTHORITIES:


The relevant authorities who exist to support the residents bordering the Heol y Glyn
landfill site, namely Natural Resources Wales, Neath Port Talbot Council and Glynneath
Town Council, have refused to investigate the concerns of the East Glynneath Residents
Against Contamination group or undertake due diligence on their behalf in accordance
with their purpose. Their actions in relation to our concerns can be shown to be actively
covering up the site’s historic use as a domestic landfill site and any illegal tipping that
may have occurred at the site by the former owner, the Cuddy Group. It can be seen in
supporting information to this document available on-line that these organisations are
also covering up their own malpractice and/or negligence following the identification of
hidden contamination by this resident’s group. This is contrary to UK, Welsh and local
government guidelines on the duties of public office holders. 

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ACCOUNTABILITY


The Glynneath Town and Neath Port Talbot Councillor, Del Morgan and the Neath Port
Talbot planning department were made aware in January 2017 of the suspicious tipping
activities of the Cuddy Group. It is clear from the subsequent events that NPT Council
have failed to follow up on these reports to investigate the land and protect the health of
neighbouring residents. This failure to address illegal tipping and historical contamination
relating to domestic tipping implicates the Neath Port Talbot and Glynneath Town
Council’s in the past and future deaths of any residents resulting from the contamination
at the site.

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SUMMARY:

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy is an extremely rare neurological disorder. The national
average occurrences and subsequent deaths for the whole of Glynneath for PSP should
number 2 in 40 years. That two deaths from PSP have occurred in a group of 5 houses
in Brynhyfryd in a space of two years indicate that these deaths are unnatural. The only
scientific study of this disorder of a previously known cluster concluded that the cause
was most likely due to industrial contamination. The houses border a historic domestic
and industrial landfill site that was tested as contaminated in 2008 but not remediated in
accordance with the United Kingdom law the 1990 Environmental Protection Act.
The cause of these deaths from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy is almost certainly due
to previously identified and other potential illegally tipped unidentified contaminants at the
site. The deaths could have been prevented if council land contamination protocol had
been followed, but subsequent council malpractice and the continued active cover up
operation has allowed the recorded contamination to remain on site and additional tipping
to occur. Neath Port Talbot Council staff and councillors, together with Glynneath Town
councillors have been identified as actively covering up and perpetuating the existence of
contamination at the Heol y Glyn landfill site. The recorded PSP deaths of Brynhyfryd
residents and any future deaths from PSP or other related contamination illnesses such
as cancer must be considered as unlawful killing and those public officers covering up the
contamination must be held responsible for the deaths.

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CONCLUSION:

“Residents of Brynhyfryd are dying from the rare neurological disorder
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. These deaths are almost certainly due to
specified and other probable unspecified contamination tipped at the Heol y Glyn
landfill site. Public officers who have covered up this contamination are potentially
responsible for the unlawful killing of these residents.”
ENDS


*****  

 

CLICK HERE for a link to this document on-line

 

 

 

LINKS

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE EGRAC 1990 ENVIRIONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT BREACH REPORT

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS DOCUMENT ONLINE

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