Don't lose sight of main issue

May 1 2008

I must take issue with the letter by Grant Henderson (Advertiser, April 17) regarding the £4000 fine imposed on Scottish Water for polluting the Rotten Calder at Blantyre.

He demands an apology from me for a letter printed in the paper at the time of the incident.

The letter to which he refers was in fact a personal e-mail sent by me to a reporter at the Advertiser. It was subsequently submitted by the paper as a letter the following week.

The e-mail I sent to the Advertiser was unequivocal as to who was responsible for polluting the river: Scottish Water. I quote: “My opinion is that Scottish Water on behalf of South Lanarkshire Council is struggling to meet the demand for water treatment,” and “Scottish Water must know who is behind this because sewage sludge can only come from their works.”

Within the context in which the e-mail was sent, I totally refute any suggestion that I alleged any wrongdoing on the part of WC Tankers.

At the same time as our river was being polluted by sewage, WC Tankers applied for the installation of a sewerage water tank. To then ask a journalist “I wonder if they know anything?” is in no way an allegation of wrongdoing!

On reflection, my e-mail to the reporter was deserving of ‘Letter of the Week’. While we bicker, Scottish Water gets off with a fine that, in effect, we have to pay.

The only pee that comes out of Allers Treatment works should have been a P45 with the names of those responsible attached.

James Brown, Priestfield, Blantyre