Golfers tell court of blistered lips from Rechem emissions

chemical tastes in their mouths, the High Court in London was told

yesterday.

Giving evidence by video-link from Grangemouth, Mr James John Keilt, a

former secretary of Bonnybridge Golf Club, said the emissions made local

wildlife extinct and blighted plant growth on the nine-hole course.

''I was literally bombarded by complaints about emissions from the

Rechem International chimney. It was almost the sole topic of

conversation in the club house on particular days. There were people

whose quality of life was being spoilt by emissions from the Rechem

International chimney.''

Mr Keilt was called as a witness by local dairy farmers Andrew Graham,

60, and his wife Irene, who are seeking #750,000 compensation from

Southampton-based Rechem International.

The Grahams, of Tambowie Farm, Milngavie, near Glasgow, allege

emissions from the Rechem plant in Roughmute, Bonnybridge, devastated

their dairy herd on West Bankhead Farm, Denny, Stirlingshire, between

1982 and 1984, when the plant closed.

They claim faulty incinerator design and inadequate management methods

meant that toxic waste was not destroyed in the incinerator and settled

on the Grahams' grazing land.

Rechem International contests Mr Graham's claim for the loss of his

296 pedigree Ayrshire cattle.

It claims the true cause of the destruction of the Graham's herd was

Fat Cow Syndrome, the result of excessive feeding to boost milk yields.

In the witness box in Scotland, Mr Keilt, of Lochhead Avenue, Denny,

said that, as secretary of the golf club for nine years and a member for

40, he played the course beside the plant more than anyone else.

''The problem was on-going. If there were emissions from the chimney

that were obnoxious, it was the sole topic of conversation in the

clubhouse about the smell and the taste in people's mouths that

particular day,'' Mr Keilt said.

''I would go out on the course and my eyes would be watering. On

numerous occasions you'd get small blisters on your lips and on the

inside of your mouth and a horrible taste.

''The first thing you did after getting off the course was have a

drink to get rid of the taste.

''The taste typically lasted about two or three brandies -- joking

aside, it would take one or two hours. The blisters would last for days.

Regularly you would get small blisters. I never went to the doctor but

some people did. I've not had blisters at all since Rechem closed.''

The trees planted on the Rechem side of the course seemed to take on a

brown colour as if they were dead. On the other side they were green.

''Since Rechem closed, the condition of the course improved

dramatically,'' Mr Keilt said.

''We now have a rabbit problem which we didn't have when Rechem was

operating. Since it closed, we have rabbits galore.''

Two other Bonnybridge golfers told the court via video-link how they

had had to cancel games because of emissions from the Rechem

International toxic waste incinerator.

Mr William Skene, a JP and former treasurer of the golf club, said he

had to run off the golf course to escape one cloud of fumes in early

1983.

''An orange plume came out of Rechem and we had to run out of the

plume, actually run. That was the worst but it was not the only time.

There were blisters on my lips for two or three weeks after that

particular plume. There was no other rhyme or reason for it other than

what we were breathing.

''If you were playing golf, if you lifted your head up to see where

you were going, you would get something in your eyes.

''You would be in tears for a start. The fellow you were playing with

would have to help you. That happened all the time on the course. It

hasn't happened since Rechem closed down and it never happened before

they started.''

Mr Stephen Worthington, for Rechem International, put it to him that a

municipal incinerator beside the Rechem plant was the true cause of the

problem emissions.

Mr Skene replied: ''I can't say. I don't know what they were burning.

We knew Rechem was burning toxic waste. The fact is it hasn't happened

since Rechem closed.''

Another Bonnybridge golfer, Mr Frank Skene, of Fairways Place, said

foul, acrid chemical fumes also made him abandon a round of golf. ''I've

been a member of Bonnybridge golf club for 24 years. In the early 1980s,

I played four times a week, although my wife would say I played every

day.

''There were foul smells and the wildlife seemed to disappear. I could

tell it was coming from the Rechem factory by the plume of smoke from

the chimney.

''The back of your throat nipped and your eyes ran with water. It

would happen basically every day but depended on which way the wind was

blowing.

''There was one Sunday when it was so bad we had to give up our game.

Our eyes were running and you couldn't concentrate properly because you

couldn't see the ball for the tears in your eyes. I would say it was an

acrid, chemical smell.''

One time, Mr Skene said he saw a purple plume coming from the Rechem

chimney. ''I had my camera in the car and took photos from all around

the chimney stack and from all angles so they could not say it was a

trick of the light.''

The hearing continues.