Last month, Scotland’s crowd-funded investigative journalism outfit The Ferret, in partnership with The Guardian, published documents showing that radioactive water from the Royal Navy’s Coulport armaments depot leaked into Loch Long after ageing pipes burst and flooded areas where nuclear warheads are handled. Loch Long is a 20-mile-long seawater loch that flows into the Firth … [Read more...] about Ferreting out radioactive leaks from Trident
environment
Saving Loch Torridon
After a dook in the sea in the west Highlands last week, a neighbour led me over to her car to show me a water-filled jar with a chunk of something that looked a bit like coral in the bottom. She lifted it up to the light and turned it around. “Can you see? It is covered with filamentous algae’. Sue … [Read more...] about Saving Loch Torridon
The Road to the Isles littered with phone masts?
Loch Rannoch is one of the heart-lifting place names mentioned in the song “The Road to the Isles” - “Sure, by Tummel and Loch Rannoch/ And Lochaber I will go/ By heather tracks wi heaven in their wiles/ Oh the far Coolins are puttin' love on me/ As step I wi my cromak to the isles”. But this beauty may soon be marred by an unnecessary terrestrial phone mast. Vodafone is … [Read more...] about The Road to the Isles littered with phone masts?
Northern Ireland environmental catastrophe
As the aul rebel song went, 'Only our rivers run free'. Well, it seems not even our rivers have much freedom these days. A new report from the Rivers Trust shows what a dire situation our waterways are in. Via Niamh Campbell in the Beltel:Not one stretch of river in Northern Ireland has managed to meet ‘good’ overall status, while Lough Neagh is an “ecological disaster”, … [Read more...] about Northern Ireland environmental catastrophe
Alarming death toll in the Scottish wilds
The Scottish moors are considered areas of outstanding beauty, and often assumed to be “wild” and “untamed”. However, these landscapes are the result of management techniques that are now under scrutiny by the Scottish government. These practices include burning the moorlands (muirburn) and controlling the number of animals on the moors through trapping, snaring and poisoning. … [Read more...] about Alarming death toll in the Scottish wilds