Chester on the Web - Visit Chester on the Web your Ultimate Guide

Datganiad i’r wasg

Tel: 07728090861

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.markisherwood.com

ISHERWOOD: HEALTH MINISTER FALLS SHORT OF FULL INVESTIGATION INTO FLINTSHIRE FACTORY CANCER LINK

AN Assembly Member who has backed calls for a full investigation into whether a Flintshire cement plant could be linked to cancer cases among residents living close by, including his own daughter, has questioned the Health Minister’s response.

In 2000 as a prospective parliamentary candidate for Alyn and Deeside, now Welsh Conservative AM for North Wales, Mark Isherwood, warned that the new kiln at Hanson Padeswood (then Castle Cement) could create health risks to the community.

Last month he wrote to the Health Minister, Edwina Hart, supporting the calls of Penyffordd Community Council for an investigation into whether the plant could be responsible for cancer cases in the vicinity.

The Minister has since responded to Mr. Isherwood, stating: “Public Health Wales in collaboration with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and the Health Protection Agency acknowledge the health concerns and would like to work with people in, and representatives of,  the local community to gain a better understanding of them.

In the press, community leaders have welcomed  a similar response from the Minister to Penyffordd Community Council, but Mr Isherwood, whose daughter Charlotte was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer at the age of 19 and told at the hospital where she was treated that there had been an increased number of  thyroid cancer cases from the area, is seeking further assurances.

He  commented: “The Health Minster’s response falls short of a commitment to a full, impartial and transparent investigation and I will be responding to her accordingly.

“Surely we need to start with data on the incidence, nature and spread of cancers in both surrounding localities and the further plume grounding area for kiln emissions. It is essential that we establish whether cancer clusters exist, where they are and their cause. If linked to the cement work at Padeswood it would then be necessary to establish the time lines involved and whether this relates to the new kiln or to those which operated previously.”

Last month Mr Isherwood also wrote to the Health Minister after he was approached by a former employee of the plant who told him he had worked there for 23 years and that he has had cancer, as had many of his former colleagues - many of who have died in consequence.

Mr Isherwood told the Minister: “He therefore wants an investigation, called for in my previous letter to you, widened to include evidence gathering on the numbers of employees and former employees of the plant who have or have had cancer.

“In order to incorporate this into the investigation already requested, he suggested that research should also seek information on the numbers affected by cancer in the surrounding communities who actually worked at the plant.”

Mr Isherwood has received several further emails from people who have cancer themselves, who have loved ones with cancer or who have lost relatives to cancer living in both the villages indentified by Penyffordd Community Council, (Penymynydd, Padeswood, Buckley, Leeswood and Hawarden) and other villages including Ffrith and Mynydd Isa.

“All of these have asked me to pass their names and details to Public Health Wales for inclusion in the 'dialogue' detailed by the Minister in her letter. I will therefore now be passing these on to the agencies involved.

“It must be in the interest of both local people and Hanson Cement to get to the bottom of this once and for all.”