If you live in the area reports have come in of a major chemical incident with an unusual mist rolling in off the sea and people reporting stinging eyes and throats from Birling Gap to Eastbourne. MAJOR INCIDENT DECLARED.
I've got mates reporting problems in the Langley area of Eastbourne now. We're about 7 miles inland so hoping it won't get to us.??
I'm in Eastbourne thankfully going home now. Certainly irritated eyes all round.
No idea but could there be ordnance suddenly disturbed in the area? Could it be some.kind of previous WW mine or something that has somehow gone off?
I thought it was only WW1 that had chlorine gas, but was there anything similar from ww2 that might have been disturbed?
Only asking as the reports suggest it is an unknown source, I'd have thought something that produces that kind of stuff is likely to be known.
If they have wind turbines down there just turn them on and blow the fumes away
A leak from a chlorination unit in a water treatment plant, or a large swimming pool?
It's coming in from the sea which is odd, my thought was an ordinance dump.
Nasty stuff.
clumsy attempt at a gas attack?
Let's hope everyone is safe 🙁
Does seem odd doesn't it.. coming from the sea n'all. I reckon the Navy are involved, or it's a cruise ship flushing its sewage and water tanks..
I'd put money on it being a tanker washing their tanks out after leaving the discharge port after carrying chlorine. Somebody is using the magic pipe!
I was kayaking a couple of hours ago within sight of beachy head, few miles to the west, didn't notice anything out the ordinary. Scary stuff though!
We were down there at 1530 to walk the dogs but it was so busy we went inland to litlington and I suspect we've dodged a bullet there. Got reports from various mates of sore eyes after riding through the area.
Plenty of Old folks down there too.. let's hope they're all ok.. 😐
an ARV copper who was trained in CBRN, that on arrival at a scene if all the birds where falling from the sky and people falling to the floor, you knew it would be serious.
Lets hope thats not the case
I'm 10 miles down the coast and did a double take earlier, its often hazy here but this evening its seems different. The sky is blue but the channel is hazy and a bit browner than normal, and I can't see the horizon.
Hopefully its normal...it does look a bit like the photos flying about but that could just be the same murky/normal haze, I'm sure we'd know about it if it was spreading along the coast! There is no wind at the moment but forecast is a northerly tonight
Anyone listening to local radio for updates?
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And don't go anywhere near Father Malone, ok?
Stay safe people.
We were planning to eat chips on the beach at Pevensey Bay this evening but gave that idea up when my eyes began stinging. My eyes have been hyper sensitive for over 40 years since the school caretaker managed to somehow put way more chlorine in the school pool than there should have been. Just glad we went to Birling Gap yesterday afternoon rather than today.
Any WW1 re-enactments going on? Or any gas carriers passing through the Straits?
Watching Pacific rim right now, Kaiju?
Watching Pacific rim right now, Kaiju?
Could be, devious bastards, sneaking up on us
while we're all concerned with Trump and Brexit.
Scary stuff ! Advice to stay away from the coast on the August Bank Holiday 😐
My friend was caught up in this at Eastbourne, burning eyes and throat.
Seems to be clear now.
Still saying they don't know what it was or where it came from, someone is telling Porkys. Porton Down isn't that far away, probably had folk there in under an hour.
Also one of the most controlled waterways in the world so if it was a ship they'd have a few suspects by now.
Funny business. Where's Jivehoneyjive when you need him?
Aren't the eastbourne sewerage works under the seafront?
It was like someone had sprayed fly killer in a room and then closed the door.
I was right there. Paddleboarding from Seaford to Birling gap. I'd just stopped to chat to a moored yacht in Cuckmere Haven when we saw this strange mist envelope Beachy head. It was white and looked a bit like sea mist but more concentrated. I kept paddling but my eyes started stinging. The whole area started to stink of a diesel type smell. I was about a km offshore so decided to turn round and headed in to Cuckmere as was worried about being at sea in this sutuation. However on the beach it was ok and my eyes stopped hurting. Took a quick swim to clear my head. The gas didnt reach Cuckmere which was lucky as the beach was busy and I paddled back to Seaford. There were loads of people up on the cliffs and they got completely enveloped in it. Hope everyone is OK
They are now saying they don't think it was Chlorine, apparently the effects would have been far more serious. So as far as we know, they don't know what is was or where it came from...
Old chemical warfare shells dumped off Belgium and moved by sea over the years.
Some sort of industrial release from France
Some sort of agricultural treatment
Chemical tanker ship flushing it's tanks.
Hydrogen sulphide release from bacteria in the ocean floor.
Any more candidates?
I wonder where the French dumped their WW1 gas shells?
Probably not close to the French coast, therefore... 🙂
On a serious note, hopefully no consequences for the elderly or those with breathing difficulties.
@ epicyclo - the Hurd Deep looks a possible spot, if the Brits were willing to share.
Any more candidates?
Fishing trawler disturbing dumped chemical ordnance?
Which could make it hard to determine the cause.
Candidates ? All a bit unlikely imo ...
France is 80 miles away and wind usually not Northerly, will check Sovereign Light Vessel data
Munitions dumping spots are well know and marked on charts but seems unlikely to have a leak 50m down and that get to the surface and then form a gas. I believe it would disperse in the water on the way up. Hurd Deep must be 150 miles from Eastbourne ?
Ship cleaning tanks ? Possible but with ais they are all tracked now so doing that in the English Channel would be pretty daft
Hydrogen sulphide release from bacteria in the ocean floor.
Not that. In low concentrations it's distinctively smelly, and in higher concentrations it's odourless but very toxic.
Boo.....I was wondering if planet Earth was going all Avatar
They had chemical response in there sharpish must have got samples & run it through a mobile chromatograph straight away, so at the very least know what it wasn't.
Must be doing some mass spec now
Southerly wind yesterday, chemical discharge from France most likely, that or naughty tanker.
No quakes lately so not Gojira/ Kaiju 🙁
http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/earthquakes/recent_uk_events.html
Suppose it could have been a trawler dredging up munitions
If the wind was stronger than what its was, a light Southerly 5-10knts, and blown into a sea breeze maybe 15knts+ then I reckon it would have dispersed quite quickly. As it was hardly any wind and a bit of a sea fret held it down and light winds blew it onshore..
My step sister did a sponsored walk on the downs on Saturday.
They stopped off for a rest and she said it felt as if she had pepper spray in her eyes.
Not sure where exactly that was but the same symptoms a day earlier , how does that fit in the puzzle?
She is a Wing Commander in the raf so I'm assuming she must have done some sort of chemical training and know whats what.
Gas? Pfffft. My arse. You know the drill. First some mashed taters ...
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Poison gas drifting across the coast. Still. Never mind, eh? Close the windows and carry on.
Any more candidates?
He who smelt it dealt it?
So far only Winston claims to have smelt it.
France is 80 miles away and wind usually not Northerly, will check Sovereign Light Vessel data
Winds blow from, currents flow to.
