Exclusive, 18 June 2013 Confusion, secrecy and buck-passing about anti-radiation pills meant to protect tens of thousands against cancers after big nuclear accidents have raised serious questions about Scotland’s plans for keeping its population safe. Councillors are warning that there may not be sufficient pills available in time, putting people in danger of being poisoned by enough radioactivity to give them thyroid cancer. Young children are the most at risk. Potassium iodate tablets are an... Continue reading

from The Herald, 17 June 2013 Defence ministers are to face questions this week over an emergency exercise that revealed how Scotland could be left to fend for itself after a “catastrophic” nuclear weapons accident. An internal report released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the police, fire and ambulance services faced “major difficulties” dealing with a mocked-up motorway pile-up involving a nuclear bomb convoy near Glasgow because they had no help from... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 16 June 2013 The American property developer, Donald Trump, is facing unprecedented criticism from Aberdeenshire Council for repeatedly breaching planning rules at his controversial golf resort. The billionaire tycoon, who paid a flying visit to Scotland earlier this month, has applied for planning permission five times in the last 18 months for construction work he has already carried out. He is now being asked to submit a sixth request for retrospective permission.... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 16 June 2013 Many of the wild flowers that brighten the countryside are disappearing because governments and farmers are failing to protect them, a new report is warning. Colourful plants such as corn marigolds, field gentians and wild pansies are in serious decline. So are the insects and birds that plants support, including marsh fritillary butterflies, great yellow bumblebees, lapwings and curlews. The pesticides and monoculture crops favoured by large-scale industrial farmers... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald New Era magazine, 16 June 2013 Simply changing the food we eat could enable Scotland to stop breaching its targets to cut climate pollution, according to a new analysis backed by experts. By eating more local organic food, wasting less and composting more, people could prevent hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions and rescue the nation’s faltering reputation on tackling global warming. Statistics released by the Scottish government earlier this... Continue reading

from The Guardian, 12 June 2013 An emergency exercise has exposed serious weaknesses in Britain's ability to cope with a catastrophic motorway pile-up in which a nuclear bomb convoy burns and spreads a cloud of radioactive contamination over nearby communities. An internal report released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reveals that the emergency services faced “major difficulties” responding to the mocked-up accident near Glasgow because they had no help from key MoD weapons experts... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 2 June 2013 The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has been caught out turning a blind eye to pollution, making dirty beaches look clean and putting the health of thousands of holidaymakers at risk. The government’s pollution watchdog has been forced to drop a dodge it has deployed to avoid testing popular bathing waters for faecal contamination on days when the contamination is likely to be at its worst. Condemned for “cheating”... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 26 May 2013 More than one in five of Scotland’s most precious animals, forests, flowers, firths, lochs, bogs and mountains are neglected or damaged, according to a major new assessment by the Scottish government’s wildlife agency. Over 1,100 of the nation’s natural treasures have been officially rated as poor because successive governments have failed to protect them from landowners, farmers, the fishing industry, developers, polluters and other dangers. The species under threat... Continue reading

from The Herald, 20 May 2013 Negotiations on the handling of highly controversial plans to exploit underground gas in central Scotland have broken down, paving the way for an appeal to the Scottish government. The Australian company, Dart Energy, has been forced to postpone the start of commercial mining for coal bed methane around Airth this year because Falkirk and Stirling councils have repeatedly delayed their deadlines for taking a decision. Until now, the delays... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 19 May 2013 Environmentalists are demanding urgent investigations into air pollution on the Glasgow subway after a snapshot survey by the Sunday Herald’s New Era magazine discovered that passengers were breathing in tens of millions of tiny metallic particles that might damage their health. We found levels of pollution by microscopic particles on the subway - known in the city as the Clockwork Orange - up to ten times higher than on... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald New Era magazine, 19 May 2013 It’s everywhere, and it kills thousands of people every year in Scotland. But despite more than a decade of efforts to reduce it, it seems worse than ever. Air pollution is one of the plagues of the modern age. The fumes that spew from vehicle exhausts, the tiny particles disgorged by diesel engines and the dust and grime of urban living make life much less pleasant... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald New Era magazine, 19 May 2013 by Rob Edwards and Colm Currie Pollution is not always where you expect it. A unique and pioneering survey carried out by New Era has found worryingly high levels of air pollution at railway stations and in the Glasgow subway. We teamed up with Dr Sean Semple, a leading air pollution expert from the University of Aberdeen, to take portable, state-of-the-art monitors to record concentrations of... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 19 May 2013 The £40 billion engineering giant, Babcock, is demanding up to £500,000 from the Scottish government’s wildlife agency because it opposed the company’s plans for a major new freight terminal in Fife. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) argued at a public inquiry that the terminal proposed at Rosyth could threaten vital bird colonies in the Firth of Forth. Now Babcock is demanding that SNH use taxpayers’ money to help pay the... Continue reading

from Daily Record, 16 May 2013 The Royal Navy’s fleet of nuclear submarines has been banned from using berths in two of Scotland’s lochs because of official doubts over whether the public and sailors would be safe in the event of an accident. We can reveal that three exercises to test emergency responses to simulated submarine accidents in March and April failed assessments by government safety regulators because of a series of “inadequate” preparations. As... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 12 May 2013 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is under fierce attack for investing hundreds of millions of pounds in US companies that blast away the summits of mountains to uncover coal. Over 500 mountaintops have been eradicated by explosives in the Appalachians in West Virginia over the last few years, releasing toxic wastes into streams, polluting the air and threatening the health of local communities. Burning the coal that’s extracted... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 05 May 2013 Pesticides from 12 salmon farms have contaminated lochs around Scotland’s coast in breach of safety limits, according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa). Environmental monitoring by the government watchdog over the last three years has discovered high levels of toxic chemicals in sediments from the Firth of Lorn, the Isle of Lewis, the northwest Highlands and Shetland. Fish farmers use the chemicals to kill the lice that eat... Continue reading

talk to Strathclyde University journalism students, 30 April 2013 Here are a few suggestions on how to exercise your right to know using freedom of information legislation in the UK. They are not exhaustive or comprehensive. 1. Don’t go drift netting for thousands of fish, go angling for one or two. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with fishing for information from public agencies, but it’s best if you have at least an idea... Continue reading

28 April 2013 A new compromise plan by Scotland’s environment minister, Richard Lochhead, to agree - but not implement - a ban on the pesticides blamed for killing bees has been condemned as a “complete fudge” and a “spineless sell-out” that could help usher in “ecological Armageddon”. Scientists, beekeepers, environmental groups, and politicians reacted angrily yesterday to a bid by the Cabinet Secretary for two years more research before deciding whether or not to restrict... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 28 April 2013 The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been stopped from test-firing shells made of depleted uranium (DU) in Scotland by public opposition, campaigners say. Defence ministers have told MPs that a planned weapons testing programme will use alternatives to DU. The toxic and radioactive metal, used to harden armour-piercing tank shells, has been blamed for cancers, birth defects and other illnesses suffered by soldiers and civilians after the Iraq war.... Continue reading

A last-ditch bid by Scottish ministers to keep the salmon farms that shoot seals secret has been rejected by Scotland’s freedom of information watchdog, Rosemary Agnew. Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 21 April 2013 An advertising campaign by Donald Trump, the US property tycoon, attacking Alex Salmond’s support for wind farms will this week be condemned as “misleading” by the UK government’s advertising watchdog. The Sunday Herald has learnt that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will publish on Wednesday a damning ruling on adverts that appeared in Scottish newspapers in December. The adverts linked the First Minister’s backing for wind power to the... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 21 April 2013 The boss of Scotland’s biggest salmon netting company has branded legal limits on the number of seals he’s allowed to shoot as “pointless”, according to the minute of a meeting leaked to the Sunday Herald. George Pullar, the director of Usan salmon fisheries based in Montrose, was quoted saying that netting companies should be able to shoot as many seals as was necessary to protect their salmon. The government’s... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 14 April 2013 Britain’s newest nuclear-powered submarine was forced to abandon sea trials and return to port in the Clyde after a system defect was discovered last week. The Sunday Herald can reveal that HMS Ambush, which was handed over to the Royal Navy last month, was towed back to the Faslane naval base near Helensburgh after coming to an unexpected halt in the middle of Gareloch on Wednesday. The £1.6 billion... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 14 April 2013 The giant wounds on the landscape left by dozens of opencast coal mines across Scotland may never be healed under plans being considered by Scottish ministers. Community and environment groups are warning that the Scottish government is preparing to allow coal companies to break their promises to restore defunct mines in order to try and help the deeply troubled industry. Because of financial difficulties, Scottish Coal said last month... Continue reading

from Sunday Herald, 14 April 2013 An allegation that explosive and highly polluting gas is leaking from boreholes in southwest Scotland is being probed by the Scottish government’s green watchdog. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) is launching an investigation into claims that methane is “bubbling up” in wells drilled to test for the gas in coal seams near Canonbie in Dumfries and Galloway. The claims are denied by the company that owns the wells.... Continue reading