Calls for public inquiry into environmental scandal after botched clean-up of steelworks
5 April 2025, 08:55 | Updated: 5 April 2025, 19:14
A lawyer is calling for a public inquiry into one of the UK's worst environmental scandals.
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Serious concerns have been raised about links between birth defects in the Corby area of Northamptonshire and the botched decontamination of a local steelworks in the 1990s.
Des Collins - who represented some of the families affected - fears there could be a repeat without further detailed investigation.
Alison Gaffney gave birth to her son Fraser in 2016, but at 17 months old, doctors detected a rare type of child cancer.
Fraser needed a bone marrow transplant, and was given a 5% chance of survival.
Fraser survived, but Alison began to notice several other local families who were all in the same boat.
She now thinks this could be linked to the reclamation of the steelworks, when safety regulations were ignored and the town became ridden with toxic waste.
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"The day Fraser was diagnosed we were wheeled into the hospital and there was a picture of a beautiful little girl up on the wall who is sadly no longer with us - and I recognised her - she was a child I used to work with.
"Over time, we would see more and more families from Corby coming into the ward who I recognised.
"We would casually be talking to nurses and consultants, and they would also comment on how many cancer cases were coming from Corby."
Once Fraser began to make a recovery, Alison started to research a possible link, and she uncovered more and more cases of rare child cancer in Corby.
“Somebody told me about a cluster of six or seven children all on the same street who got a rare type of child cancer.
"There just seem to be so many clusters around our area."
This comes after the hit Netflix series Toxic Town retold the story of several children who were born with hand and foot deformities, after their mothers inhaled toxic orange dust from the nearby steelworks site.
In 2009, a High Court judge was the first in the world to acknowledge a link between atmospheric toxic waste and birth defects.
Maggie Mahon’s husband worked on the steelworks site in the 1990s and would come home covered in toxic dust. Their son Sam was born with a club foot in 1997.
“It was a shock to be told there is something wrong with your child,” Ms Mahon said. “I was told it was probably just to do with the way he was lying in the womb.”
“I questioned myself and what I had done wrong.”
Sam needed multiple foot operations and it’s restricted the jobs he can do.
Tracey Taylor worked next to the toxic waste reclamation and has described the toxic orange dust as a "Sahara desert" which would "burn the back of your throat and your nose’"
Her daughter Shelby Anne Taylor was born in 1996 with a deformed ear.
“I alerted the hospital and I was told I was just being an overactive first-time mum.”
Later that evening, Shelby Anne was rushed into intensive care, and after several scans, the doctors discovered that she had a two-chamber heart instead of a four-chamber heart.
“Sadly she died within 5 minutes in my arms”, Ms Taylor told LBC, after Shelby Anne was eventually taken off life support.
In the aftermath of the court ruling, Corby Borough Council, which no longer exists, issued a formal apology and agreed to a settlement, including compensation for affected families.
Ms Taylor and Ms Mahon believe that their stories are just the tip of the iceberg.
Since the release of the Netflix series Toxic Town, inspired by their stories, Ms Mahon said she has been inundated with other mothers coming forward.
“People are really now questioning the health of the town. I’m starting to understand why we can’t get doctors’ appointments ever. The town sounds like it is full of problems.”
Mr Collins, the solicitor who successfully represented families in the 2009 case, wants a public inquiry into the environmental scandal and believes that Ms Gaffney and other families coming forward today could well have a case.
“People may say could this happen again. I think the short answer to that is yes.”
He believes there are still unanswered questions about the safety of the town.
Ms Gaffney is currently trying to see if there are any more families in Corby who have been affected by child cancer, and is appealing for people to get in touch via email at Corbychildhoodcancer@gmail.com.
North Northamptonshire Council has been contacted for a response.
