Are there any environmental concerns raised by the culling policy?
Burying and burning hundreds of thousands of animals (probably millions by the time the crisis is deemed over) has posed a serious contamination threat to groundwater and to the air. The use of thousands of litres of disinfectant will also have a major impact on plant and animal life. There were early warnings from environmental bodies that the use of kerosene, creosote and red diesel to ignite the burial pyres was pumping lethal dioxins into the air. Dioxin exposure can lead to cancers, genital malformations and learning difficulties. There are also concerns that burying so many sheep will pollute the water table. The air of panic even led the government into abandoning its BSE-related safety-first rules on the disposal of cattle over 30 months. Such animals previously had to be incinerated at high temperature because of the virtual indestructibility of the disease agent, which can cause CJD in people. By mid-April, the government was about to give permission for over 30 month cattle
