Hollywood actor seeks help from vicar for series
Rev Paul Cawthorne helped Michael Sheen identify sites where toxic waste was dumped in the 1970s.
In a two-part BBC documentary starring Welsh actor Michael Sheen, Shropshire vicar Rev Paul Cawthorne played a crucial role in investigating toxic waste dumps across Wales. Cawthorne, an environmental campaigner, began his search at a former landfill site at Stoney Hill in Telford, where chemical giant Monsanto had illegally dumped waste in the mid-1980s.
He then expanded his investigation to Sutton Walls in Herefordshire and Cefn Mawr in north Wales, as well as various sites in the south Wales valleys. Cawthorne's research revealed dangerously high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls - toxic, man-made chemicals that do not easily break down in nature - at nine out of ten sites examined in the BBC radio series Buried.
According to the documentary, the results at some of these sites were so alarming that they would likely force professionals to stop ignoring the issue. Cawthorne has now urged Telford and Wrekin Council, the current owners of the Stoney Hill site, to conduct a comprehensive, fresh statutory investigation.
However, the council has dismissed Cawthorne's calls, stating on its website that there is no evidence of toxic materials being tipped into the landfill. The council also claims that regular testing, conducted since their takeover in 1998, has not identified any cause for concern. They further note that an Environment Agency assessment in 2008 confirmed the site poses no risk to the local environment.
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