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Zane’s parents have met the Secretary of State for Justice

28/4/2024

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Zane’s parents have met the Secretary of State for Justice to once again call for an Independent Panel Inquiry into his death.
The 7 year old passed away after the River Thames flooded his home in Chertsey in 2014.
Justice Minister Alex Chalk has agreed to raise the case with the Environment Secretary and the Prime Minister’s advisers, his department has confirmed.
It follows a meeting between the Lord Chancellor and the parents of Zane Gbangbola over their fight for an independent panel inquiry.
But Kye and Nicole dispute this and say their son was killed by gas washed out of a former nearby landfill site. 
The Lord Chancellor, Alex Chalk, says he recognises that achieving justice through Inquests has failed in many instances.
He cited the Hillsborough families.
He has agreed to raise the call for an Independent Panel Inquiry for Zane with the Prime Minister’s Office.  
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1367nmj8mjo
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Boy's flood death to be highlighted by minister

26/4/2024

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Justice Minister Alex Chalk has agreed to raise the case of a boy who died during flooding in 2014 with the Environment Secretary and the Prime Minister’s advisers, his department has confirmed.
It follows a meeting between the Lord Chancellor and the parents of Zane Gbangbola over their fight for an independent panel inquiry.Zane's parents dispute an inquest in 2016 which concluded the seven-year-old died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a petrol pump used to clear flood water, when the River Thames burst its banks in Surrey.
They say their son died from toxic hydrogen cyanide gas from a former tip near their Chertsey home and the petrol pump was not used.
They have accessed public health documents that stated firefighters found hydrogen cyanide in their home, but no carbon monoxide.
The latest development comes after a meeting on Wednesday between Zane’s parents, Kye Gbangbola and Nicole Lawler, Mr Chalk and Labour MP Richard Burgon, who is a long-term supporter of the family’s campaign.
The couple have repeatedly called for an independent inquiry but were previously told to apply for a fresh inquest.
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On Thursday, a fourth council, Stroud District Council, external in Gloucestershire, voted in favour of Zane's Law - proposed legislation to provide greater transparency over contaminated land.
Three Sussex councils have already backed Zane's Law, Lewes, Brighton & Hove and Adur.
This week, the BBC revealed a landfill experiment took place near Zane's home in the 1960s, with continuing questions about what waste went into the ground.
'Heartfelt sympathies'Mr Burgon said: "Zane’s parents have been fighting for justice for over a decade. It should not drag on any longer.
"I call on the government to immediately grant the Independent Panel Inquiry. That’s the way we can ensure that justice is done."
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "This was a tragic incident and our heartfelt sympathies remain with the family of Zane Gbangbola.
"The Lord Chancellor will raise their call for an independent public inquiry with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs."
The department also confirmed that the Lord Chancellor had committed to raising with the Prime Minister’s political advisers that the family would like to meet with the Prime Minister to discuss the case.
​Original Article>>

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Zane Gbangbola: Concern over experiments near home of boy who died

26/4/2024

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Archives show a landfill experiment took place in the 1960s near the home of a seven-year-old boy who died in 2014 amid claims that he was poisoned.
Zane Gbangbola's parents say he was killed by toxic gas from the dump after the River Thames burst its banks.

However, a coroner ruled that he died from carbon monoxide from a petrol-powered pump used to clear flood water.
Zane's father said he had previously called for tests on the land to ascertain what materials went in it.
The BBC saw details of the experiment in open files but was refused access to further papers by Spelthorne Council. 
In 2016, Surrey coroner Richard Travers concluded the boy died from carbon monoxide from the petrol-powered pump which was used at Zane's Chertsey home as large swathes of Surrey were flooded.
Zane's parents, Kye Gbangbola and Nicole Lawler, said the pump was not used. They have accessed public health documents that stated firefighters found hydrogen cyanide in their home, but no carbon monoxide.
And they also said they knew about the experiment but not what went into the land, which is why they previously wanted it to be tested.
Mr Gbangbola and Ms Lawler are meeting Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and Labour MP Richard Burgon over the case.
'LOST HISTORY'Mr Gbangbola said: "We've been aware [of the experimental lagoon] for some time, and there's a number of issues over the years where harm has been generated as a result of whatever is in that land. That's simply why we asked for the land to be tested all that time ago.
"Our only understanding is that it's listed from 1962 and the materials we don't know, so the only way to ascertain what is in that land is to test it."
Archives showed Middlesex County Council had aimed to pump out a flooded lagoon that was already being used as a tip, fill it with 30,000 tonnes of refuse and restore it to farmland. The experiment, on a floodplain, failed twice and was eventually abandoned.
Mr Gbangbola said the experiment was no longer common knowledge in the community, adding: "It may be a lost history, but it is totally known to the authorities."
However, health concerns have also been raised over similar experimental tipping, two miles away at Thorpe.
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At Thorpe, in the 1950s, several councils and government departments were involved in a scheme where worked-out, flooded gravel pits were filled with household refuse, industrial material, power station ash and material from private hauliers. One pit, known as Pit C, could take waste from military organisations.
In 2002, former Runnymede MP Philip Hammond revealed problems with leachate (contaminated water from landfill) had continued for the next 40 years. He declined to comment to the BBC.
Anne Emerson's childhood home backed on to the Mead Lake Ditch, a stream that flowed into the Thorpe pits. Occasionally it flowed the opposite way, when residents would say "they are flushing out the gravel pits". She said it was something people accepted. She said at one time it was possible to row a boat along the stream and into the gravel pits at the end of the road.
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Ms Emerson, now 60, has since moved to Ottershaw. She said she has suffered from autoimmune and thyroid issues for decades, but her thyroid condition has only recently been diagnosed.
She raised concerns because every winter the stream flooded their garden, where her family grew vegetables, and her fear now is the water was contaminated.
Ms Emerson, who studied plant science and genetics at Oxford University, said she learned about the Egham Experiment last autumn after speaking to Michele Haider, whose father died from a rare cancer after farming contaminated allotments in Chertsey.
Runnymede council, which covers Thorpe, said the only way to ascertain the status of the garden was for a resident to carry out private investigations on their land. 
Any council investigations would in the first instance look at the actual source of potential contamination, which would inform any need for more widespread investigations, they said.
A spokesman for Runnymede council said: "Whilst this would not be something that we could assist with currently, we would be happy to assist the resident with her own plans in an advisory capacity.
"The former Egham Experiment site is one of our many potentially-contaminated land sites which, when resources and funding allow, will be investigated in order of priority."
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At Chertsey, details of the experimental lagoon were held in open records, but when the BBC submitted a freedom of information request to Spelthorne council for more details, reporters were notified of a non-disclosure undertaking following the Zane Gbangbola inquest and referred to the coroner.
Zane's parents also said they were unable to talk about inquest material for legal reasons. Ms Lawler said the couple initially refused to sign a confidentiality agreement but eventually did so "under duress". She said they felt "silenced".
A coroner's spokesman said: "With regards to any undertakings from Zane's family and from Spelthorne Council, our understanding is that any such undertakings would have been limited to dealing with copies of the audio recording of the inquest."

Chief coroner's guidance to coroners states that any recordings of inquests provided must be accompanied by a written notice advising that misuse may be Contempt of Court. The guidance includes a specimen "warning notice".
Following an approach to Mr Travers for more information on the landfill experiment, the BBC was advised to apply to the court for a recording of the inquest. The BBC is making a formal application.
However, the coroner's public report on Zane Gbangbola said Spelthorne had provided a history of the land since 1950 including licences and permissions for landfill use and said "inspections had revealed no significant polluting incidents".
Three Sussex authorities - Lewes District Council followed by Brighton and Hove City Council and Adur District Council - recently backed Zane's Law.
It followed a campaign by the family for legislation to provide greater transparency over contaminated land, named after their son.
Original article>>

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Following Lewes District Council’s lead, two further councils vote in support of Zane’s Law on the same day

8/4/2024

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Following Lewes District Council’s lead, two further councils vote in support of Zane’s Law on the same day, 28th March – Brighton & Hove City Council (motion proposed by Green Cllr Kerry Pickett) passed unanimously, and Adur Council (motion proposed by Green Cllr Gabe Crisp).

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Read the reports in The Argus and from the BBC.
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