After those terrible HGV scenes in Ottery's fictional matters, another shocking revelation: this time on groundwater and the plan to quarry right down to the water table.
It has been brought to our attention that so-called seasonal working - the sort of scheme Aggregate Industries intends at Straitgate Farm, where giant excavators tear right down to the water table - has been tried before... with devastating results:
Apparently, the winter water table rebound caught this digger driver completely by surprise:
I was lucky to get out alive! Long-winded reports had been written - but no-one warned about this; the water came up so fast, all I could rescue was my lunch box.
Consultants had talked about 'ephemeral ponds of water', but they obviously didn't have a bloody clue. They didn't even know where the maximum water table was. How could they? They'd only recently put piezometers in the centre of the site!
If you ask me, it was amazing this place was in the Minerals Plan at all. People had been warning about the water for years, but no-one took any notice - not the council, not the company, not even the local airport. And look what we've got now - a f***ing lake. The birds will love it, but it was meant to go back to farmland.
It's tragic; that was my best loader, I loved that machine.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all readers!
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