Sonae used legal action to prevent The Kirkby Times publishing material, and it looks like they are 'on one' to coin a local phrase, and are looking to bring legal action to a few people/websites/publications, I'm sure news will appear.

An article is up on the Liverpool Times, which I'll publish here for the record.

Polluting firm Sonae, who have polluted Kirkby and surrounding areas since they set up in 2001, have issued more legal threats against local websites and certain individuals. We will report more on this as the news comes in but it looks like another Liverpool website is lined up for the legal shenanigans that anyone who ever spoke a word of truth in Liverpool seems to fall foul of.

Not having taken the hint from their regular appearances in Huyton Magistrates Court, the Sonae management still insist that the Sonae factory is practically pumping out oxygen enriched air to the good people of Kirkby.

Rest assured people, Sonae are very much a polluting firm, and their operation is damaging to the environment of Kirkby. The monstrosity of a chimney and the filthy mountains of wood dust left out in the open are something that no-one except a few workers and their families would actually say is ‘worth it’.

George Howarth has stated more or less the same, and he is an MP. Councillors have also mouthed words which hint at pollution. A person in Kirkby was sacked due to Sonae making allegations with regards to apparent secret information being leaked to The Kirkby Times.

The Liverpool Daily Post and Echo have both published articles which accuse Sonae of polluting the area. The headline ‘Toxic Sonae’ being ok for the local papers, but not ok if local websites expand upon that headline and fill in the details.

We cannot deny there is pollution because Sonae have been fined for causing it. This pollution has affected dwindling wildlife and spilt over into the local brook and seeped underground. Sonae also had a fire which burnt for months, and have a mountain of wood dust continually blowing over local residents. That makes Sonae a polluting firm and also lawbreakers, or criminals, which is what working class people get called when we are up in the courts on a regular basis.

This ongoing matter of the latest Sonae legal move will be reported as we get the news in. It is perhaps a sly tactic to set in place legal moves over the holiday period, but we’ll know more soon.

Seems as Sonae are so keen to see material taken down, The Liverpool Times will be publishing the material which was taken off The Kirkby Times. We will also set up a stopsonae website, as we have the website name in the bag and waiting to go.

The Kirkby Times was subject to legal moves with respects to the content which portrayed Sonae in an honest light. This honesty is also known as ‘illegal’ in England.

Sonaes management know that The Kirkby Times hit the top ten of Google when we had the Sonae material online. That’s information power and Sonae do not like it one bit.

Sonaes own websites (for they have many) are international mega funded affairs. Bully pulpits for the big and powerful so to speak. On the Sonae website appertaining to the Sonae factories and chipboard plants they operate, it does not mention once the fact that thousands of people in the vicinity of that so called ‘environmentally friendly modern clean factory’, are sick of living under the shadow of Sonae and the pollution which spills out of that place almost every day and night of the year.

Sonaes management disliked intensely The Kirkby Times and now they have another headache with The Liverpool Times and other websites bravely reporting on what is a very contentious issue. They hate us because we showed the ordinary people that you can take on anyone using the internet.

Our message to Sonae is simple.

Our loyalty in this regard is to the people of Kirkby, which is why we will republish every last word and article that was on The Kirkby Times. Every video and every photo.

This is Sonaes doing and whatever follows they bought it on themselves. Had they not chosen to come to Kirkby, we would never have breached any English laws and would never have had to say a word about them.

Given that The Liverpool Times is hosted in America, the English law, with regards to the Sonae material being taken off, does not apply.

For all the bad things about America, you have to bow to their constitution.

It is a beautiful thing to think that Congress itself, the highest power in the United States of America, can make no law – NO LAW! - that might interfere with the freedom of speech of the American people.

That is were the Americans have us beat.

But here are the articles, which are from our  http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk site

What About the Real Habitual Criminals?
A review of the history of habitual offending at the Sonae plant, Kirkby

By Steve Tombs and Dave Whyte

"Norman Stanley Fletcher … you are a habitual criminal …". These words ran over the opening credits to Porridge, the classic BBC sitcom set in Slade prison. Fletch was - as far as we learned - a petty but regular criminal, used to 'doing time'. The judge ended his speech by sending him down for five years. In the thirty years since the series, law and order has come to the forefront of the political and media agendas. The prison population has more than doubled since Porridge was first aired, mainly because more and more recidivists - 'habitual criminals' - have been banged-up for longer prison terms. Britain's jails are bursting at the seams as the prison population soars to the highest in Western Europe.

But some of our nastiest and most persistent offenders have escaped the punitive attentions of the criminal justice system. According to official statistics (which notoriously underestimate figures), forty workers and members of the public were killed by industry in Merseyside between 1997 and 2001. Government research has long since established that most of those deaths are the responsibility of negligent or reckless company management. This figure does not include the hundreds that die as a result of occupational diseases: in Merseyside, between 1996 and 2000, more than 200 people died from mesothelioma (usually caused by asbestos) alone. Each year many times more people die at the hands of a profit-making company than die in murders. And yet prosecutions are extremely rare.

Sonae - who recently recieved a fine of £37,000 for environmental offences, are a typical habitual offender. As everybody in the Kirkby area knows, Sonae have been polluting the local environment since the Kirkby plant opened in 1999. A health survey, by the Knowsley Against Toxic Sonae Campaign indicated that more than 80% of people reported dust residues around their homes, and over 40% of households reported dry coughs, eye irritations and sore throats. Visitors to Northwood reported similar symptoms which miraculously cleared-up when they left the area.

It's not just the polluting activities of Sonae that should be a cause for concern. Their failure to comply with the law and manage environmental protection effectively extends to health and safety of workers. In other words all was not well. Our own investigation into the plant during 2001 found that HSE inspectors identified a "worrying trend of major and minor accidents". In a series of incidents in 2000, workers suffered serious crush injuries, broken bones, electric shocks and burns. Between October 2000 and April 2001, there were six injuries over three days and seven major injuries reported to the HSE. Indeed, inspectors found that safety devices had been interfered with and by-passed as a matter of routine, and the company had failed in its legal duty to implement a safe system of work. Revealingly, we had access to documents written by HSE inspectors which warned the "whole project is politically sensitive." The Sonae plant - we should remember - was set up with the financial and political backing of several public authorities, including Knowsley Borough Council. Perhaps predictably, no prosecution followed any of those events. The 'political sensitivity' might also explain the HSE reaction to our report - they were more worried about where we got the information rather than the issues that we raised. Letters pointing out that obtaining such evidence was a criminal offence indicated their the major concern - find the information leaks, ignore the toxic leaks.

Echo/Post Readers might recall another dust explosion that was occurred at the Sonae plant on 1 June 2002. Following that explosion, and its investigation by the HSE, the company were given notice to clean up its act, but no prosecution followed despite inspectors finding violations of Heath and Safety law. Inspectors knew that the company was flouting the law. Four enforcement notices had been served on the company between May 2001 and the date of the explosion, despite the fact this had been pointed out to them.

On 25 June 2002, a more severe prohibition notice was issued, banning the restarting of the plant involved in the recent explosion until a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks associated with the plant was carried out. On 28th June 2002, yet another notice was issued on the company. Still no prosecution. By July 2002, the polluting dust emmisions were causing problems for players at the neighbouring Liverpool FC Academy, and their concerns about the plant were voiced publically in the Echo/Post.

So after all this repeat victimisation of residents and workers, after all the company's habitual offending, Sonae finally landed in the courts, courtesy of the Environment Agency not the Health and Safety Executive. But was the fine - a total of £40,000 (including costs) enough? You can ask what £40,000 means to a company like Sonae? In 2002, Sonae UK's annual turnover was about £90 million. So a fine of £40,000 for that company is about 0.04% of turnover. Let's be clear what this means. On an average wage of £15,000, this would equate to a total of £6 as punishment for their crime. Hardly a deterrent, not even worth a letter from a company accountant to the board of directors.

Even more gallingly, Sonae has done very well for itself in spite of (or maybe because of) its misdemeanors. The plant is only in Kirby at all because of a government handout: a DTI grant of £1.95million awarded by Peter Mandelson, as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Having been given almost £2 million by the government, an outlay of £40,000 is even more laughable. As taxpayers, we have a right to expect a little more for our money than a plant which pollutes regularly and in which workers have beenregularly injured. It is time for companies like Sonae - who cause far more harm than the Norman Stanley Fletchers of this world - to be held to account for profiting out of crime.

Sonae’s Legacy of Pollution and ill Health

“My 13 year old son left his bedroom window open one night, which he has never done before. 6 o’clock that morning he was taken to hospital with chest pains, difficulty breathing, he hit the floor as his legs gave in as he couldn’t stand up any longer. The hospital had to call in a cardiac nurse to check my son’s heart but were baffled because my son couldn’t breathe, he was pale, which is very unusual as my son is a very healthy boy.” 1

Other people living nearby have also suffered unexplained illness, from coughs and colds to eczema and asthma. Others have complained of chest pains, and unborn children have been aborted because of abnormalities. In one road of around 50 houses, 6 have oxygen delivered.

Poor health has been a feature of life in Kirkby since the estate was built in the 1950s and ‘60s. Deaths from lung cancer in Northwood are three times the national average and one in ten babies are born with low birthweight.2 Knowsley has the highest number of school children who qualify for free school meals in England, 47.8% compared with 5.6% in Windsor and Maidenhead.3

The clear link between poverty and poor health is recognised by academics and health professionals. Politicians, instead of removing the root cause - the way society is structured - attempt to alleviate poverty with “solutions” that just move the problem from one area to another.

People were moved to Kirkby during the mass slum clearance of Liverpool and the health problems associated with social deprivation were present from the beginning. Most people moved were under 30 years old and in 1961, out of a population of 53,000, 48% were under fifteen! 4 There was, and still is, high unemployment. Prices for food were high - because of the lack of shops - and there were no social amenities.

Kirkby Industrial Estate had been the site of a Royal Ordnance Factory in the Second World War. Then huge amounts of public funds, and a ready pool of labour attracted US multi-national companies - Kraft, Birdseye, Massey Ferguson, Otis Elevator, AC Delco - employing thousands on one of the biggest estates in Europe.

Nearly all of the big companies have gone, leaving an estate of mostly small firms, with poor safety records, which spew out a cocktail of chemicals, plus a few call centres, known as the new sweat shops.

It was in this environment of high unemployment that Knowsley Council invited Sonae with £5 million of public funds. Sonae advertise themselves as the world’s largest chipboard manufacturer with the world’s most modern factory at Kirkby, but it is reported to have been refused permission to build in other countries.

Health and Safety inside the plant is abysmal. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) files show a list of accidents, with an inspector reporting after one visit that: “the situation is serious, with continuing complaints about safety standards.” 5 In March 2000 a senior ex-employee of Sonae UK made claims that there was no first aid facility, a serious drugs problem and that ‘punishment’ beatings were carried out against consultants who disagreed with the company.

There were also warnings of the dangers of explosion and fire, and since this there have been a number on the site. The latest of these, in September 2001, took 70 firefighters and two aerial units over three hours to control the blaze following an explosion. It was by luck rather than good management that the Maintenance team working in the building had left the area some 30 minutes before. Sonae failed to report this major incident to the HSE or the Department of Public Health!

This lack of care of the company for its workers does not inspire confidence in those living near. As far as they are concerned Sonae’s wish to, as they put it, “fulfil a valued and respected role within the community,” 6 is just rhetoric. They feel that once again, they are being used as guinea pigs to satisfy the rush for profits of yet another multi-national located in Kirkby, who will leave once the money runs out.

Even before the plant went in to full production local people complained about the effects of the emissions on health. Simonswood Parish Council, a body that represents local farmers, collected stories of farmers being unable to work the fields when the wind was blowing in their direction, horses at a nearby stables being fitted with masks, and one 12 year old in Simonswood village suffering from headaches and severe bouts of vomiting.
Conditions experienced in Northwood confirmed this deterioration in health. A questionnaire circulated by Knowsley Against Toxic Sonae (KATS), the group set up to express the health concerns of local people, documents this deterioration.

Formaldehyde released in the steam from the factory has been identified as the main culprit. Formaldehyde has an unpleasant smell and causes streaming eyes, runny nose, sore throat and a worsening of respiratory conditions such as asthma. It also causes cancer. Along with the noxious smell a white dust was noticed, which lies on cars, streets and washing hung out to dry.

An early investigation into the plant by Dr Vyvyan Howard from Liverpool University found Dioxin in the ash at the factory.7 This is not surprising when the company burns wood likely to be contaminated, like old railway sleepers and pallets.

The Director of Public Health for Knowsley has gone on record as regretting that no Health Impact Assessment was done to assess the risks for people in the area before the factory was given permission to locate in Kirkby. But Knowsley Council insist that the plant meets all the safety standards. That safety standards are lower in this country than elsewhere is not their fault. But Knowsley Council use Sonae’s own monitoring figures to see if they meet the standards and give them ten days notice before collecting them!

At certain times, particularly at night, at weekends, and on public holidays, the effects are worse. They seem to coincide with the steam turning blue and also, strangely enough, in between the testing of toxic levels. Residents are convinced that as the company are in control of processes, they can cynically time releases for when there will be least local reaction. If they are not in control then why are they allowed to operate at all?

Liverpool Academy, where the cream of Liverpool FC are groomed for a life in the ‘Beautiful Game’ is next door to Sonae. LFC have refused to get involved in the controversy of the plant, preferring to remain impartial. One local observer says that the players only train on days when the plant is not producing its noxious fumes, implying that LFC have come to an accommodation with Sonae.

A working group which includes the local MP, councillors, residents and representatives from Sonae has been set up to investigate complaints. KATS is excluded from this because Sonae object to being called toxic. They threatened to sue the group for this and because the group circulated the results of their questionnaire. Meanwhile the toxic emissions continue. The health of people living in Kirkby seems to be of low priority. That there has been any movement at all to address this issue is down to the local residents. The fact that they have had to struggle to do this is an indictment of the local council. That Sonae UK is allowed to pollute is down to the system that sets health standards in line with what companies can afford rather than what is healthy.

1: From “Knowsley Against Toxic Sonae (KATS) Report of the Result of a Health Questionnaire Carried out in Northwood, Kirkby.”
2: Merseyside Pathways
3: Liverpool Echo 7 November 2001
4: Kirkby and Knowsley, “The Archive Photographs Series”, compiled by Michael Griffiths.
5: From “An Overview of the Hazards Associated with the Sonae UK Ltd Site.” July 2001, Prepared for the Merseyside Hazards and Environmental Centre.
6: Liverpool Echo 9 March 2001
7: Liverpool Echo 30 November 2000

This article first appeared in TVS magazine November 2001.
See also: ‘The Community Action Website’ www.lmu.livjm.ac.uk/inmylife/Channels/Community/146.htm