The Member of Parliament & The Poisoned Lake

THE BLUE LAGOON

Known locally as the "Blue Lagoon" because of its azure and therefore alluring colour at Harpur Hill, near Buxton in Debyshire; the county of the Peak District.

Prima facie it is easy to see the attraction this body of water can hold over visitors.

WHY IS SIR DESMOND SO INTERESTED IN A QUARRY FULL OF WATER?

The Right Honorable Sir Desmond Swayne MP TD (SDS) is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of New Forest West some 210 miles from Harpur Hill. To be frank I don't think he is interested in the "Blue Lagoon" except for the pursuit of his own political ends which are of a right wing libertarian persuasion. That is small government, free market and people able to determine their own lives. Along with the concepts of political freedom, freedom of association, freedom of speech and a deep rooted skepticism of authority and state power.

On 14th March 2021 SDS published a blog entitled "Policing the Pandemic". In the second paragraph he accuses the Derbyshire Police of "crass stupidity by poisoning an azure lake, in order to deter visitors".

By any measure referring to the police as being crass and stupid is quite a damning criticism, especially coming from someone who is in a position of power, influence and authority.

On 21st March 2021 SDS was contacted by email and asked if he was sure the Derbyshire Police had poisoned the lake in March 2020 to deter visitors. In the same email it was pointed out that had the police poisoned the lake as he suggested then surely the Environment Agency would have been on to them like the proverbial ton of bricks and at least censured them for causing environmental damage. His reply was succinct:

"Thanks. Dying the lake black can hardly have had beneficial environmental effects."

The Derbyshire Police were contacted about the incident and the content of the SDS blog. They responded with great detail which helped to put their actions of March 2020 into context.

The Harpur Hill Quarry (aka Blue Lagoon) was as its name implies a quarry where limestone was extracted. It is located on private land and is therefore inaccessible to the public. After its life as an active quarry ended it was used from the end of World War II to store and dispose of chemical weapons captured during the war. In 1960 it was abandoned by the military and gradually filled with water from rain and run off from the surrounding exposed lime slopes.

The combination of the chemicals and the natural reaction of water draining off of lime stone is enough to give the water a pH level equivalent to that of neat bleach which gives the water its alluring azure colour. In addition to the chemicals and the run off water there are old cars dumped there, animal carcasses and human waste of all sorts.

No wonder contact with the skin and eyes can cause irritation fungal infections and if ingested while swimming; stomach problems.

The response from the police continued by explaining that the dye used was harmless and non-toxic. It is a vegetable based black dye regularly used to clear algae from fish ponds which biodegrades in days without trace. It is most certainly not "poisonous" as SDS states in his blog.

In addition to the information from the police response it was found that the police had acted in conjunction with the local authorities and local residents over their actions which all stakeholders supported.

Despite the lock down restrictions announced less than a week before the dye was added to the water the area had been invaded by visitors. Their cars blocked roads, they left litter and used hedges both private and public as open toilet areas. And, some visitors had actually been swimming in the lake of toxic water. That is why the police did what they did. Not for any draconian reason to stamp on peoples right to freedom of association or as enshrined in the American Constitution phrasing along the lines of "the pursuit of happiness".

All of the points gleaned from the police response and other sources were referred to SDS in a further email. Included in the email was reference to how his constituents in the New Forest had suffered similar problems in March 2020 when there was a huge influx of visitors to the area filling car parks, blocking verges, leaving litter and using hedgerows both public and private as toilets.

Full credit to SDS as he does respond to every email and letter sent in but he does have a certain delicacy in the way he closes down a correspondence on a subject:

"Thanks. Your views are noted. I have nothing to add"

CONCLUSION

The Derbyshire Police force have been criticized for their enforcement of the COVID 19 restrictions. In the early days they used a drone to track and identify people walking in the Peak District. In this case of the "Blue Lagoon" I can't see how someone such as SDS can be critical of them to the point of calling them crass and acting out of stupidity when what they did is dealt with in a wider context of public order. Allowing nearby residents to enjoy their leisure time without interference, to prevent people from trespassing and those who do trespass from self harm on the land or in the water. Surely those are the good actions of a police force serving the community?

In answer to the question "Why is Sir Desmond so interested in a quarry full of water?" I can only answer that by saying he cherry picked a singular action by an authority ignoring the full contextual setting of their actions and used his limited interpretation as a convenient platform to support his libertarian views.

What is sad is that what he wrote will be read and some of those readers will accept his expressed opinions about the police and the "Blue Lagoon" as an indicator to support their opinion, confirmation bias, without questioning its integrity.

"Too often....we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought" John F Kennedy