Residents Against SARP Pollution

Last updated October 03, 2019

Residents Against SARP Pollution (RASP) was formed in June 1998 in response to two incidents of toxic gases escaping the SARP UK chemical plant in May 1998, in the town of Killamarsh on the border of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, England.^[1] The campaign was formed by local residents and members of the Socialist Party (England and Wales). The campaign eventually succeeded in forcing the closure of most of the SARP plant.

Killamarsh is a town and civil parish in North East Derbyshire, England, bordering Sheffield and South Yorkshire to the North West. Killamarsh is surrounded by, in a clockwise direction from the north, Rother Valley Country Park, Wales, Kiveton, Woodall, Harthill, Barlborough, Spinkhill, Renishaw, Eckington, and the Sheffield suburbs of Oxclose, Halfway and Holbrook. Over the years, Sheffield and South Yorkshire have tried to merge the town into the ceremonial county as part of the city, but disagreements have prevented this, though Killamarsh does have a Sheffield dialling code, address and postcode.

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. It is the southernmost county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and had a population of 1.34 million in 2011. It has an area of 1,552 square kilometres (599 sq mi) and consists of four metropolitan boroughs, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. South Yorkshire was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972. Its largest settlement is Sheffield.

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire, containing the southern extremity of the Pennine range of hills which extend into the north of the county. The county contains part of the National Forest, and borders on Greater Manchester to the northwest, West Yorkshire to the north, South Yorkshire to the northeast, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the southeast, Staffordshire to the west and southwest and Cheshire also to the west. Kinder Scout, at 636 metres (2,087 ft), is the highest point in the county, whilst Trent Meadows, where the River Trent leaves Derbyshire, is its lowest point at 27 metres (89 ft). The River Derwent is the county's longest river at 66 miles (106 km), and runs roughly north to south through the county. In 2003 the Ordnance Survey placed Church Flatts Farm at Coton in the Elms as the furthest point from the sea in Great Britain.

Formation of RASP

After a public meeting called by the Socialist Party (England and Wales),^[2] Ken Coates MEP, who was invited to speak, called for further meetings, which gave rise to the campaign, and also set up an independent inquiry into the site.

The Socialist Party is a Trotskyist political party in England and Wales which adopted its current name in 1997 after being formerly known as Militant, an entryist group in the Labour Party from 1964 until it abandoned that tactic in 1991. The party stands under the electoral banner of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) or under the name Socialist Alternative.

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The year-long campaign involved marches and rooftop protests. RASP protesters even travelled to SARP's headquarters in France to protest.

Victory

The campaigners eventually won the closure of six of the seven sections of the site in late 1999, with the local council looking at siting non-toxic recycling processes on the site.^[3]

Campaign Officers

Chair - Kevin Jones
Secretary - Faye Moran
Treasurer - Pat Whitehouse
Vice Chair - Roger Barraclough
Membership Secretary - Samantha Martin
Press Officer - John Moran
Campaigns Officer - Alistair Tice
Legal Officer - Bev Smith
Youth Organisers - Tracey Nettleship, Emma Horsford
Publicity Officer - Trevor Cockerill

Contacts for the Townships:-

Beighton - Dave Milsom
Wales/Kiveton - Mike Sampson
Swallownest - Paul Marshall ^[4]

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References

↑ "Noxious Emissions..." Corporate Watch. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
↑ Stevens, Robert. "British company leaks deadly gas into residential areas". wsws.org. International Committee of the Fourth International. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
↑ Victory Over Polluters, The Socialist 12 November 1999
↑ RASP Officers from RASP website - retrieved 17 August 2007

External links

RASP website

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[1] "Noxious Emissions..." Corporate Watch. Archived from the original on 13 August 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2015.

[2] Stevens, Robert. "British company leaks deadly gas into residential areas". wsws.org. International Committee of the Fourth International. Retrieved 27 June 2015.

[3] Victory Over Polluters, The Socialist 12 November 1999

[4] RASP Officers from RASP website - retrieved 17 August 2007