Living in the shadow of a power station
Abertawe Power Station is due to close next year. BRONTE HOWARD talks to the people who have been living with it as a neighbour for many years
RON LLOYD has spent the past 18 months using a ventilator mask.
He can no longer climb the stairs and sleeps in a bed that has been moved into the living-room, looking out onto views shadowed by the 53-metre-high mountain of coal ash which seemingly mocks his plight.
The 77-year-old has lived in a detached house in East Aberthaw with his wife, Sam Lloyd, for the last 15 years. He’s been living in the village for 32 years.
Nearby Aberthaw Power Station’s towering chimney dominates the landscape.
The ash pile, a by-product of the industrial giant’s heyday, is a reminder of an age when it produced enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes.
But those days are long gone. In March the power station, run by RWE, will close for good and the remaining 170 people directly employed there will lose their jobs.
“When they were burning the coal, yellow plumes would blow across the village and over the Bristol Channel,” Ron recalls.
“We would watch them tip the ash and dust would go everywhere, it would cover the house.
“We don’t know if the lung disease is from the pollution, there’s no way we can know and we wouldn’t want to think about it.”
Aberthaw is the last coal-fired power station in Wales.
It once described itself as “one of the most efficient coal-fired power stations in the UK”.
But in 2015 a report by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth said the plant had the third-highest emissions of nitrogen oxides of any industrial installation in the whole of the European Union.
“Hundreds of people’s lives are ended prematurely as a result of pollution from Aberthaw power station every year,” the report said.
“The pollution is responsible for causing asthma symptoms in chil
dren, bronchitis in children, chronic bronchitis in adults, hundreds of hospital admissions every year, and low birth weight in babies.
“Over the 45 years since it started operating, pollution from this one power station alone is likely to have caused the premature deaths of more than 3,000 people in Wales, and 18,000 across a wider area.”
In the same year the European Commission announced it was taking the UK government to court over the emissions from the power station and, the following year, the European Court of Justice ruled that the pollution limits at the power station had been breached.
In response RWE said it had a “proud history of environmental compliance”.
“I spent 23 years in the service and I was exposed to all sorts but surely it couldn’t have helped,” Ron added.
Over the years the couple have complained to RWE about the dust.
He said RWE employees would visit the couple and carry out tests which would always indicate that levels were below what is considered harmful.
Mr Lloyd said: “They would say the ash had nothing to do with the power station. We don’t have any proof. I’m glad it’s closing.”
The grassy mound which dominates the landscape is made up of tonnes of pulverised fuel ash (PFA) that FWE says has been made secure and covered in grass.
In 2007 the company behind the power station asked permission for the ash mound to be increased to a 61-metre mass. The application was refused following local uproar.
In East Aberthaw residents describe the struggle to keep their windows clean while the power station was in full operation.
“The windows would be coated in ash,” said one.
“You would wake up in the morning and your house would be covered in ash. It would be all over the car, the driveway. It was everywhere.”
He added: “It’s a shame about the jobs but we’ve moved away from coal.
“There were once 30 or 40 trains going past a week, now it’s just four.
“Our houses are a lot cleaner than what they were. We can see out of our windows again.”
Another neighbour said: “Trains were going past every day carrying coal and idling, and when they dumped the ashes after they had burnt it if the wind was blowing the right way, dust would fall everywhere.
“Doors and windows would be covered, cars would be black and we were breathing in that ash.
“It was horrible but we were used to it.”
What concerns Ron Lloyd now is the future of the site.
“We hear nothing from the politicians and we hear nothing from the council and we still get dust. Something has got to be sorted.”
Other residents have similar concerns.
“The chances are it’s valuable to someone,” a neighbour says.
“What happens when they want to move it? Are we going to have all the ash in the air again? Who is going to protect it and make sure it’s not tampered with?
“What’s going to happen to the asbestos at the site? We know it was used in construction back in the ’60s.”
In response to the concerns RWE spokesman Olaf Winter said Aberthaw Power Station emissions are regulated by Natural Resources Wales.
“We have no plans to alter the existing ash landfill area, which has been safely capped and grassed over,” he said.
“The ash that has been produced in the Aberthaw plant during the last weeks of its operation will be sold.
“RWE has no plans to dispose of the land. The land remains in RWE ownership and will be managed by RWE.”
He added: “Any works to dismantle the plant and any demolition works will be managed by a specialist demolition contractor.
“In doing so we make sure any possible asbestos is handled safely and according to legal regulations.”
Down the road, stone-walled cottages, thatched roofs and perfectly trimmed topiary welcomes visitors to “the best-kept village in the Vale of Glamorgan”.
It says so on the sign which sits next to the village’s pristine red phone box.
Gileston is idyllic, serene, pretty as a picture.
The contradiction between its natural beauty and its imposing industry is stark. But so are the attitudes of people.
Jobs have been lost. Some families have two or three generations who have worked at the power plant.
At one point, at least one person in every house in the village was employed there.
“They were very good to us,” says Caroline Wilmot.
The 74-year-old has lived in Gileston for nearly 50 years.
“My father was involved in the building stage and I went on to work there as a stores clerk for five years in the ’80s.
“People who had been working on local farms all their lives and knew nothing else left to work there.
“They paid very well and until about 10 years ago they were still taking on apprentices.
“When people retired they were offered very generous retirement packages and they looked after the widows of workers very well.”
The power station also looked after Gileston. RWE donated money, time and labour to the village.
“They would come and help us trim the hedges and cut the grass. They helped us win best-kept village.
“I know people have concerns about pollution and we know there’s asbestos in the building, but look at me. I’ve raised my children here and I’m still here at 74.
“Nobody wants to live next to a power station but we’re realistic and we’ve seen the benefits it brought.
“I was there when there was a power station ‘A’ and ‘B’.
“When ‘A’ closed down [in 1995] it was inevitable they would close the second.
“It will be sad to see it go and it’s had its uses but time has worn it out.
“When we were younger it was beautiful here. There was all sorts of wildlife.
“I would like that so the next generation can enjoy it as we did.”
RWE spokesman Mr Winter said: “Helping our employees to develop a secure future post-Aberthaw is our top priority.
“We have developed a redundancy package that is already aligned with the recognised trade unions. We are in the middle of a 60 days’ consultation process with the employees and local representatives.
“We are in touch with the Welsh Government and we are looking to provide re-skilling support for our employees to improve their chances to find new work.
“We are engaging with outplacement consultants, who will provide direct support for our employees.
“This support comprises CV writing and interview training.
“As soon as an employee finds a new job, we will seek to release them from their contract with RWE flexibly.”