When the polluter breaks in to inspect how your remediation of their pollution is going.
An odd event occurred at the end of lockdown, we found out who had been breaking into one of our sites and uprooting willows that are being trialled by having the unenviable task of transporting bacteria into the acidic tars that we have planted them in. The trees are doing well, with good top and root growth. They do not like being pulled out of this environment and several have died due to the roots being firmly established in the tars to a depth of 12 inches or more and being yanked out of their bed.
The culprits it transpires were senior employees of the company that dumped the tar in the first place and who thought it amusing to tell us what they had done. They further informed us that our method was not working. They first said that the roots had not entered the tar, and then after being shown established roots they changed tack and said it was taking too long.
The answer to why such action was being taken by an international company with well-advertised business ethics raises many questions. They knew that they were welcome to visit at any time, they had visited the site with us before and expressed their amazement that anything was growing.
They had also shown us other contaminated sites several miles away that even the Environment Agency and local authority have not seen and some they were not aware of. They further informed us that there were other locations in the Walsall and Wolverhampton areas where tars had been dumped in the 1960s.
The reason is likely to be that they are wanting to know how to do it themselves. It is though not an easy task with many pitfalls and unexpected difficulties that require some knowledge both of hydrocarbons and farming practice.
