Sciency Thoughts: Neath Port Talbot

Showing posts with label Neath Port Talbot. Show all posts

Thursday, 25 February 2021

UK Coal Authority denies liability for flooding in Welsh village.

The UK Coal Authority is denying responsibility for a flood that hit the village of Skewen in Neath Port Talbot, South Wales. The village was hit by a flash flood on Thursday 21 January 2021, after water which had built up in a disused mine on the hillside above the village burst out, rushing through the village and forcing about 80 people to evacuate their homes. A month later many residents are still unclear when they will be able to return to their properties, nor how they will pay to clear up the damage caused by the flood.

Flooding in the village of Skewen in Neath Port Talbot, South Wales, in January 2021. South Wales Police.

The Coal Authority is responsible for the maintenance of disused mines in the UK, and admits that it was it's responsibility to ensure that water in the mines does not build up to the point where it becomes dangerous, but denies liability on the basis that it is not responsible for water once it reaches the surface. Instead the Coal Authority has offered a one off payment of £500 to each of the residents effected by the flooding, something which has been described as 'frankly derisory' by local MP Stephen Kinnock.

Eighty people were evacuated from Skewen, in Neath Port Talbot, after a mine blow-out. BBC.

In addition to the immediate damage, the local council is concerned about the dangers of further flooding to the village, both from the mine, where remediation work to fix the problem is expected to take at least six months, and from normal runoff from the hillside, as much of the village's drainage system has been blocked by silt brought down from the mines by the floodwater.

Saturday, 17 February 2018

Magnitude 4.4 Earthquake in Neath Port Talbert, South Wales.

The British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.4 Earthquake at a depth of 7 km, about two kilometres to the south of the village of Cwmllynfell in Neath Port Talbert County, South Wales, slightly after 2.30 pm GMT on Saturday 17 February 2017. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but people have reported feeling this event across most of Wales and England, as well as on the east coast of Ireland.

The approximate location of the 17 February 2018 Cwmllynfell Earthquake. Google Maps.

Earthquakes become more common as you travel north and west in Great Britain, with the west coast of Scotland being the most quake-prone part of the island and the northwest of Wales being more prone to quakes than the rest of Wales or most of England.

The precise cause of Earthquakes in the UK can be hard to determine; the country is not close to any obvious single cause of such activity such as a plate margin, but is subject to tectonic pressures from several different sources, with most quakes probably being the result of the interplay between these forces.

(Top) Simplified diagram showing principle of glacial rebound. Wikipedia. (Bottom) Map showing the rate of glacial rebound in various parts of the UK. Note that some parts of England and Wales show negative values, these areas are being pushed down slightly by uplift in Scotland, as the entire landmass is quite rigid and acts a bit like a see-saw. Climate North East.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. If you felt this quake, or were in the area but did not (which is also useful information) then you can report it to the British Geological Survey here.

Saturday, 2 August 2014

Magnitude 0.9 Earthquake in Neath Port Talbot.

The British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 0.9 Earthquake at a depth of 5 km in northeast Neath Port Talbot slightly before 9.25 pm British Summertime (slightly before 8.25 pm GMT) on Thursday 31 July 2014. This is a very small event, and there is no danger of it having caused any damage or casualties, though it may still have been felt locally.

The approximate location of the 31 July 2014 Neath Port Talbot Earthquake. Google Maps.

Britain is being pushed to the east by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by the impact of Africa into Europe from the south. It is also affected by lesser areas of tectonic spreading beneath the North Sea, Rhine Valley and Bay of Biscay. Finally the country is subject to glacial rebound; until about 10 000 years ago much of the north of the country was covered by a thick layer of glacial ice (this is believed to have been thickest on the west coast of Scotland), pushing the rocks of the British lithosphere down into the underlying mantle. This ice is now gone, and the rocks are springing (slowly) back into their original position, causing the occasional Earthquake in the process.