Camp for Climate Action Scotland

Guide dismantling the coal industry in Scotland

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:25:08 +0000

Guide dismantling the coal industry in Scotland

Scotland’s Climate Criminals

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:22:31 +0000

Scotland’s Climate Criminals

The following is a list of the operations in Scotland which profit from the exploitation of fossil fuels. None of these operations are compatable with the vision for a zero-carbon Scotland as such they will be targetted with direct action in order to ensure we can make a just transition towards a sustainable future.

Longannet and Cockenzie Coal Powerstations

Glasgow, Edinburgh, Preswick and Aberdeen Airports

Oil & Gas operations in Aberdeen-shire

Grangemouth Oil & Gas Refinery

Hunterston coal terminal

All open-cast coal mines

Coal distribution network including;
Ravenstruther coal terminal
Crowbandsgate Rail Facility
Glentaggart Conveyerbelt

RBS HQ

Scottish Power HQ

Scottish and Southern Energy HQ

Motorway constructions such as M74

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:05:55 +0000

Anti-Opencast Campaigners visit Lord Home

Date: 7th July 2009
Location: Douglas, South Lanarkshire
Embargo: none

This afternoon, protestors from Mainshill Solidarity Camp near Douglas paid a visit to Lord Home to highlight the dangers of open cast coal mines. The campaigners

peacefully played frizbee on Lord Home’s garden and held banners to highlights links between local health issues and the wealthy peers’ plans for a new mine at

Mainshill. The event attracted 25 people and passed off peacefully.

People walked down the house along the road with banners. On getting to Lord Home’s house people played frizbee and other games with the children who

accompanied the march. People had a picnic around the back of the house before walking to Mainshill Solidarity Camp, again in a peaceful procession.

Mainshill Solidarity Camp said, “Why does Lord Home enjoy great wealth and health while it is the local community who will ultimately have to pay the price. He will

make 3 million turning his land over to Scottish Coal. Next week he will be enjoying shooting parties with Princes Charles, William and Harry, while locals are

suffering.”

Lord Home has an agreement with Scottish Coal to turn over part of his estate at Mainshill Woods, a popular walking venue for the local community, for a new open

cast coal mine. It will be the fifth such mine in the Douglas area in four years, making it the most heavily mined in Europe. The new mine will be less than a

kilometer from the local hospital, the Lady Home.

Health issues are worrying the local community considerably. A new document produced this week based on local GP and NHS statistics demonstrates that since the

new open cast mines started up there has been a dramatic rise in health issues. In particular chronic lung diseases have increased 60% in the Douglas area.

Local campaigner Harry Thompson, chairman of the Mainshill Opencast Rejection Action Group today said, “We are calling for an immediate end to all further

expansion and development of opencast mines until a proper and independent epidemological study is carried out to look at the impact of open cast mining on

health of neighbouring communities. We believe that preliminary sanalysis clearly justifies the need for such an investigation.”

The Mainshill Open Cast Rejection Action Group and Douglas Community Council have both demanded independent health assessments.

Mainshill Solidarity Camp continued, “If Lord Home really cared about the people of this area he would break his agreement with Scottish Coal immediately. Until he

does we remain on the site, dug in and prepared to protect the site, to support the local community and to highlight the problems of open cast mining where ever

we can.”

The Mainshill protest camp has been in place for nearly two months with a camp in the woods were various defences have been built to deter work from starting on

the site. Lord Home, the Chairman of Coutts Bank, is under investigation by the FBI for his role in the Calcott financial scandal in the US and also by Scotland Yard

over his House of Lords expense claims.

-end-

Notes for editors

1. A spokesperson for Mainshill Solidarity Camp can be reached at 07722 708 760. A website in support of the campaign is at

http://coalactionedinburgh.noflag.org.uk/

2. A leaflet outlining the figures on chronic pulmonary obstructions and other illnesses in the Douglas area is available on request. For further information contact

the author Kirsty Stramler, Ph.D. on 07722 710 863.

3. Harry Thompson, the Chairman of the Mainshilll Open Cast Rejection Action Group can be reached on 01555 851 845.

Latest news from Camp

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:25:52 +0000

Latest news from Camp

Glentaggart Coalmine Sabotaged; Police leave cancelled across the region

The Camp for Climate Action Scotland has been informed that anonymous activists have successfully sabotaged the Glentaggart opencast coal mine in South Lanarkshire. The unknown individuals have disabled the conveyor belt that moves coal from the mine to Ravenstruther rail terminal where the coal is then sent to Drax power station in Yorkshire.

The sabotage has the potential to greatly disrupt the removal of coal. Insiders say that once it has been stopped it is difficult to restart the heavily laden conveyors which is several kilometers long and comes in quarter kilometer sections. Drax powerstation was the site of the first Camp for Climate Action 2006.

The Camp for Climate Action Scotland is taking place cross the valley from Glentaggart at the site of another proposed open cast mine at Mainshill woods near Douglas. A protest camp has already been in place for six weeks campaigning against the plans which have gone through despite strong local opposition. The area is already one of the most heavily mined areas in Europe with a number of other opencast mines already being worked.

Diarmaid Lynch, a spokesperson from the Camp said on hearing the news, “Fantastic. Congratulations to those who did this. Opencast mining is responsible for a spike in the number of lung related deaths in this small area. It is time that the likes of Scottish Coal and the planning authorities are held directly responsible for their role in these deaths. Climate change is a killer, both at home and in the Global South where those who have benefited the least from industrialisation are the first to pay the price.”

The World Health Organisation estimates that climate change kills 150,000 people a year and that figure is expected to grow as countries fail to take action. Cancer in the Douglas postcode area is 23% above the national average, and 28% above the regional average. In the four years that the existing three opencast mines have been operating in the area pulmonary issues have increased 60%.

In a separate development the Camp for Climate Action has alsolearned that police leave across the central belt of Scotland has been cancelled as the various forces move to a state of high alert. To date the policing at the Camp has been very low key, but campers remain alert.