Pictured opposite, the scenes of nuclear like destruction at the Azote De France Chemical storage facility, the same sort of facility being proposed here in Kirkby by Denholm's Shipping Services LTD situated in Stopgate Lane.

A massive Chemical storage Facility situated 85 yards from residents!

After the Sonae Explosion and general pollution from the industrial estate here, residents wondered whether things could get much worse. News not long in alerts us to a potential timebomb in our midst and its a firm situated on the nearby Industrial estate on Harbour Lane who want to bring to Kirkby the potential threat of another explosion, far worse than the Sonae Explosion.Scottish registered firm Denholm's Shipping are to handle and store up to 6000 tonne's of ammonium Nitrate at the plant in Stopgate Lane, Kirkby. This is another insult to the people of Kirkby, and another disgraceful act of hypocrisy by the Council who seem intent on inviting ANY firm here to pollute us, whilst mouthing environmental slogans. Apparently 9 Councillors opposed the proposal with a petition, but as per usual,Jim Keight and the Labour Mafia who control Kirkby, will likely as not BULLDOZE THROUGH THEIR PLANS, as is the way up here with such a weak opposition. For the ordinary residents who talk of cancer caused by industrial pollution,our opinions are ignored. We all know something is wrong here, the pollution is visible, the records of early deaths speaks for itself. Knowsley Council are ignoring this, many would say they are driven by profit and so will ignore the health and safety issues. Given the Councils past record in destroying green areas and inviting still more firms to the industrial estate, no-one could blame any of us here for saying we would not Trust the Council.

Pictured below is the scene from Toulouse where the AZF plant was situated, and a picture of Kirkby's industrial estate.

The Nightmare scenario which could happen to Kirkby.

Telephone lines were immediately cut and the lines were affected as far as 100 km away.

Experts said the explosion was the equivalent to an earthquake measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale.

More than 500 homes became uninhabitable and almost 11,000 pupils are staying at home after some 85 schools and colleges were damaged.

22 people were killed on the site, 6 nearby and 1 died in hospital, regional officials said.

The force of the blast toppled two chimneys at the chemicals plant, which produces nitrogen and phosphate products used in the making of explosives.

The director of an ammunition factory nearby, owned by the Societe Nationale des Poudres et Explosifs, said there had been a second, lesser explosion there as a result of the original blast at neighbouring AZF, but nobody was injured.

An electrical goods store 300 meters from the AZF plant collapsed 45 minutes after the explosion. A nearby school was evacuated amid fears it too would collapse.

Flights to Toulouse were rerouted to other airports, according to a local crisis emergency centre.

Up to 6,300 ton's of liquified ammonia, 6,000 tonnes of solid ammonium nitrate and 30,000 tons of solid fertiliser were kept at the installation. Up to 100 firefighters searched for survivors through the wreckage from the blast, piled up to 10 meters high in some places.

A red cloud was seen near the factory following the blast on Friday. Police initially urged local people to stay inside their homes, because they thought it could be an ammonia leak, though later tests showed there was no danger of poisoning and the alert was lifted.

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An Environmental Disaster about to get Worse

Kirkby Must Not be used any longer as a toxic dumping ground. Nor should we be subject to the wholesale destruction of our natural environment. Given the increasing amount of chemical pollution from the estate plus the selling off of every last green field, there is every indication that the appalling levels of lung disease and cancers are set to rise to record levels here.

Council puts Big Business first and residents last

Kirkby was built as an afterthought once Liverpool was getting full. The land sold by the Greedy Earl of Derby was already situated to major ammunition factories on the start of the industrial estate. Once enough working class cannon fodder had been slaughtered in 2 World Wars, the munitions factories closed and various chemical production plants were set up. Despite the dangers of having residential areas near industrial estates, Knowsley Council seem to have sided time and time again AGAINST the mass majority of residents and WITH big Business. We have already seen the extremely questionable land deal selling off Windy Harbour to Liverpool FC, plus the Massive Sonae Plant which continues to kill us, and almost its workforce,many of whom are not from Kirkby(so much for local labour) We also have the sell off of School Fields and ANY spare bit of land which can be sold off.Knowsley Council must have MILLIONS of pounds in reserve. What about all the revenue from the industrial estate?, how much does Sonae for instance pay to Knowsley Council? Where the HELL is all this money going to? One things for sure: its not going to the ordinary residents of Kirkby.

KNOWSLEY COUNCIL ARE A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES, AN INSULT TO THE DEMOCRACY WHICH PEOPLE FOUGHT AND DIED FOR. WE ARE LIVING UNDER A DICTATORSHIP WHERE THE PEOPLE OF KIRKBY ARE TREATED LIKE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS IN OUR OWN TOWN. WELCOME TO DEMOCRACY KNOWSLEY COUNCIL STYLE, WHERE 99% OF THE POPULATION SAY 'NO' AND JIM KEIGHT SAYS YES. GUESS WHO WINS THAT VOTE?



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