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Foot-and-mouth pyres created more pollution than all the factories in Britain

A government study in April 2001 revealing the scale of emissions raised the fear that farmland would have to remain unused for long after the crisis was over, reports Geoffrey Lean

Wednesday 03 April 2019 18:37 BST
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Pigs and cows are dumped into an incinerator at a farm near Heddon-on-the-Wall
Pigs and cows are dumped into an incinerator at a farm near Heddon-on-the-Wall

Britain’s blazing foot-and-mouth pyres are spewing out more deadly pollutants than all the country’s factories combined, unpublished official figures indicate.

The government yesterday admitted that no systematic checks are being made on the pollution, no single body is responsible for controlling it, and no assessment of the health effects have been carried out.

The dangerous airborne emissions are dioxins, one of the most potent known carcinogens. Environmentalists fear that the pollution may make farmland unusable for long after the crisis has ended.

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