Dalgety Bay Sailing Club Radium Statement to Members – 26th April 2012

Dear Member

Further to the recent correspondences to yourselves its worthwhile that I make you aware of a number of issues that face the club in the forthcoming season. As I previously reported the Management Committee Senior members met on Monday 23rdApril to discuss a number of issues that had arisen recently. These were as follows -

• The club insurance policy was renewed and it was thought prudent to confirm the extent of cover regards the contamination. The insurance agent and underwriter have now replied and the club is not covered against any third party claims nor for any pollution emanating from the contamination within the clubs grounds.  I have replied to the insurer and asked for absolute confirmation of this as well as whether another company may underwrite the shortcoming in the cover and this action is outstanding.
• The club has insurance to protect its Senior and Flag officers (past present and future) against claims from outside parties . The insurance agent and underwriter have confirmed that this cover also excludes any claims based around the radium contamination however I have written back to them to confirm the exact extent of cover. Again I have asked for absolute confirmation of this as well as whether another company may underwrite the shortcoming in the cover and this action too is outstanding.
• The MOD have asked the club for approval to place a second container within the grounds of the club. Having checked with regard to the position of club liability with respect to thecontainers, it became apparent that the club is not covered for anyone either entering the containers, falling from them or any action or injury associated with them.  During correspondence with the MOD we learned that the current container is being used for the storage of low level radioactive material retrieved from the club site with which a number of Senior Committee officers and Flag Officers were uncomfortable.
• The Committee members present then learned from SEPA, in advance of publication, that a new piece of radioactive material was removed from the headland, found at a depth of 35 cm, from the foreshore directly in front of the club during last weekend.  This was of significant energy and rated approximately as the third most active particle found within the club grounds.

With SEPA in attendance at the meeting the committee asked SEPA for, and have now today received, a statement to allow club members to assess from themselves the risks associated with the containers. Dr Paul Dale kindly sent us the following official SEPA statement;

“SEPA has given the MoD (DIO) permission to accumulate radioactive waste in a container at Dalgety Bay only in order that it may be disposed of in accordance with the conditions and limitations set by SEPA.  The radioactive waste within the store is radium and has arisen from monitoring and recovery operations at Dalgety Bay.  The external hazard posed by the radioactive waste currently in the container is low and does not warrant any special precautions to be taken for members of the public or club going about their daily business.”

During the meeting a number of decision were taken with the following actions were agreed by the committee -

• MOD/DIO would be asked to remove the container from the club grounds within seven days to reduce the risk associated to the club and officers with the lack of insurance. This has now been issued to the MOD and the removal is awaited. Should this not occur then the club will contact SEPA and ask them to remove it on the clubs behalf.
• A number of committee members were concerned about the container remaining on site and the committee knowingly allowing club activities to continue, with club members being unaware of the situation regarding it and the new radioactive material find. A vote was taken as to whether to postpone all sailing activities until members could be fully informed of the situation and thus able to make their own assessment of the situation. This vote was carried hence the note to members postponing the training and sailing planned.
• The committee discussed the liability associated with the insurance issues, as forced by the contamination issue, and have agreed to consult a solicitor, at cost, to confirm how the club may best move forward safely and properly. This is currently in progress and two solicitors have been contacted. The terms of reference are being prepared as a brief for the chosen solicitor. The  solicitor chosen will be fully familiar and experienced with the issues surrounding the designation of contaminated land and will be employed to assist the club and committee in deciding the best way forward and how the club may best position itself for future sailing activity.

I do hope this clarifies the current position of the club and committee and goes some way to explaining why we had to make a quick judgement call to fully inform all members intending to participate in scheduled training and sailing events this week, of these lastest developments.  If you have any other questions contact me via e mail on  donald.adrian@btinternet.com

Regards

Donald Adrain, Commodore

Dalgety Bay Sailing Club Radium Statement to Members – 24th April 2012

Dear Member

The sailing club management Committee met on the 24^th April, 2012, with SEPA representatives in attendance, to discuss a number of forthcoming issues the club may face with regard to the well known Radium contamination.

While the situation has not changed since my last update, and the risks and necessary precautions remain the same and should continue to be observed, an issue surrounding the MOD/AMEC container placed in the club grounds was discussed.

This container is used to store low level activity material retrieved by MOD/DIO contractors from the site. Having discussed this at length, and considered the clubs position and liability, the committee decided the safest option for the club and members was to ask the MOD/DIO to remove this container  within seven days and in the meantime suspend sailing activities until this action was completed to minimise any risk to the club and its members.

SEPA have monitored the area surrounding the container and have categorically stated that the levels of radioactivity coming from the locked steel container are well within safe and acceptable levels .They have deemed it a low risk to passing and adjacent persons however the committee agreed that in the best interests of the club it should still be removed off site within the period given.

The Management committee continues to be an active participant in the discussions surrounding the contamination and will continue to update all members as and when progress in made by Sepa/MOD/DIO and any other agencies.

We would again draw your attention to the information contained under the Regulations and Safety tab on the website.  http://dbscweb.wordpress.com/regulation-safety-information/

Regards

Donald Adrain Commodore (Commodore)

DBSC Web Cam

We now have a web cam installed at the club pointing at the race start line.  The cam can be controlled from your browser or smart phone.

More information is available on the tech page: http://dbscweb.wordpress.com/tech/

There is a link to the web cam below the weather station link on the clubs home page. Dalgety Bay Sailing Club Web Camera

 

Dalgety Bay Sailing Club Radium Statement to Members – 19th February 2012

Dear Member

I felt the time right to update you on a number of key issues that surround the club and let you now where the club is presently and where we see ourselves going over the forthcoming year.

As you will be well aware from the media, and from recent club correspondence, the club is involved in issues with regard to Radium contamination of the foreshore surrounding the clubs grounds as well as within the confines of the clubs grounds itself.

The good news is that having taken advice from SEPA they have stated that it is safe to keep sailing and using the club grounds with the understanding that we follow the simple advice given that we do not remove any material from the foreshore, we wash our hands when we leave the foreshore and we observe good hygiene practices to minimise the risk of contamination from the foreshore.

In addition we have prepared a club based risk assessment to cover the launch and recovery of dinghies from the clubs slipways and this has been placed on our website, on a page dedicated entirely to safety.

We have submitted this risk assessment to SEPA for approval and they have deemed it appropriate and sufficient to allow us to access the water from the clubs three slipways and as such if we observe this methodology, and make sure our children are kept from the foreshore, then the risks of contamination are reduced to an acceptable level.

To this end we are happy to continue with club “business as usual” but observing the good practice as detailed on the signs surrounding the club and observing the clubs risk assessment for using the slipway to launch dinghies.

You will notice in the club calendar, placed on the website, that we are running two regattas this year however our first regatta shall be a members regatta to ensure that young children, unfamiliar with the need to observe the necessary hygiene practices, are not exposed to any possible risks.

We shall also be running the Tuesday training and it is scheduled that the Wednesday racing will take place as previous years and I do hope that members will support this in ensuring this is well attended . Should you wish to get involved please do contact us and we will do our best to make sure its an easy path to getting your feet wet.

Finally I am delighted to say that we shall be running our annual “Youth Week” where the younger members shall be training and honing their sailing skills during the summer holiday and I am sure you will all agree that this is one of the key areas of our club…encouraging new members to start sailing and ensuring that we have a good foundation in place to keep the club going from strength to strength in the forthcoming years.

To update you on where the club stands with regards to the Radium contamination you will be aware that high activity sources were found buried in the foreshore, adjacent to the East boundary between the club grounds and Fife council property .

It is now apparent that there are a number of further sources of Radium; one being under the headland , where the estuary is eroding the shoreline to the front of the clubhouse ,and another being the eroding edge located opposite the keel boat trailer park, adjacent to the pathway leading to the Ross plantation.

To give you a little more detail SEPA, who are responsible for the monitoring of the contamination as well as administering Government legislation, have carried out extremely thorough and detailed surveys of the majority of the clubs grounds and within the last year have further surveyed the foreshore, in great detail, as well as the headland to the front of the clubhouse, in an attempt to better understand the source and extent of the Radium and the manner in which it is being distributed along the foreshore. Additional monitoring has  been undertaken by the MoD contractor and this is to assist them in understanding the problem and coming up with a solution to the satisfaction of SEPA.

We have been in close contact with SEPA, MoD  and were recently visited by Gordon Brown MP and the Minister for Defence, Andrew Robothan. Having hosted a number of meeting between these parties, and also individually ,we are trying to lobby to have the situation addressed and the polluter clean u and make good the contamination.

Being part of the Dalgety Bay Forum group we also meet regularly with affected parties to make sure we are all aware of the latest issues and this will continue until a resolution is achieved

SEPA have declared that they deem the MOD as a “suitable person” effectively naming them as the main suspect in contaminating the area and are currently working with them to come up with a solution to address the issue and produce a plan to administer the solution to the satisfaction of SEPA and the club, as landowner. A draft plan has been submitted by MOD but was deemed as insufficient in detail by SEPA who are now working closely with MOD to assist them in achieving what SEPA see as a suitable proposal for remediation but it is however becoming apparent that the resolution will not be reached quickly and that the issue will affect our club for the forthcoming season and potentially longer.

I would hope that with club and political lobbying, continued pressure and co-operation with SEPA, that we can arrive at a solution which both reduces the issue of long term contamination and re-contamination to an acceptable level and allows the club to continue to flourish and provide excellent sailing facilities for all its members

Donald Adrain

Commodore

February 2012

Work Party Required – for indoors work!

Mornings of 26th February (yes, morning after the Prize Giving) & 4th March

As part of our increased efforts to reduce costs, and with the green agenda in mind, we are going to be taking steps to make our club house much more “fuel efficient”. Some members who frequent the bar may have already noticed that heating in the lower floor has been turned down to a minimum, but that has had a knock on affect to the levels of heat upstairs. It was always our intention to insulate the roof of the old part of the club house, but we now need to do this sooner rather than later to help reduce our fuel costs. So, we are looking to pull together a group of people to assist with this work.
Please email one of both of the following email addresses if you would be willing to help out – rearcommodoreshore@dalgetybaysc.org, vicecommodore@dalgetybaysc.org.
We could really do with
- an electrician to deal with lighting
- a joiner to help with reworking the up-lighter set up we have in the club house
- somebody who is handy with a sowing machine (and owns one) so we can reduce the length of the curtains

Also, we need people to bring tools and ladders so we can reach the higher parts of the roof.

Workparty: Saturday 12th Nov 2011

Training team will be packing away training boats and tidying the training room on Saturday 12th November from 9am – 12 noon.

Thanks Cheryl

FOR SALE: Tornado4 Hull+Tubes

For sale are two of the club’s old rescue RIB’s both are for sale via closed bids and both are for sale sold as seen, without any warranty.  

For Sale T4
5.5m Tornado RIB
hull and tubes only.
Hull and Transom require repair 

Offers via closed bids to the club Treasurer over £600 Closing Date 28th October 2011 

Bridge Traffic:

The hold-ups on the bridge were pretty bad last weekend – some people were late for racing, and we think others were put-off completely.

The good news is that: there are no road-works scheduled for this weekend!

Further info at: http://www.forthroadbridge.org/home

Pre-Youth Week Work Party – 23rd July

We are looking to hold a work party day on the 23rd to prepare for the approaching Youth Week and to help the club complete some of the larger jobs which are on the to-do list.

This list is including:

• The general tidy up needed of the club grounds.

• Helping with the sea defence work

• Bleaching the Slipway

• Cutting the Grass etc

Tea & Coffee will be provided, and if there’s enough demand, a BBQ can be arranged for afterwards.

If we could arrange to be down at the club for 10am on the Saturday we shall do our best to allocate suitable jobs for all who attend.

Could you please let us know if you are planning to attend by dropping a mail to rearcommodoreshore@dalgetybaysc.org together with a idea of the jobs you would be keen to help with.

Thank you, for supporting our club.
Matt

Getting Ready – Work Parties (Sunday 13th & Saturday 26th March)

Hi DBSC Guys ‘n’ Gals,

It’s time to start getting ready for the sailing season! Get all those little jobs done that you meant to do over the winter. AND come along to help with the workparties at DBSC:

Sunday 13th March – spare a few hours before the Calcutta Cup match Saturday 26th March – there’s also the RYA AGM at DBSC from 10.30 am, and the RYA Junior and Youth Powerboating Event

9:30 am to 1:00 pm each day – or thereabouts….. Come along when you can and help with a few minor tasks, such as: Trimming Trees – bring long-range trimmers – and get advice from an expert Preparation & laying of marks Fit tyres to jetty Prepare club boats Clear out bottom boat shed Polish Stratos

Many hands make light work – so bring a friend – and any tools & equipment that might help! Please e-mail me so that we know numbers for each day to help planning and arrange refreshments

Happy sailing,

Ian Renilson

Rear Commodore (Sail)

December 2010 Mainsheet :: a look back on another great year of sailing

The latest edition of Mainsheet is now available:

We hope you enjoy reflecting on another great year of sailing at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club – with the reviews of dinghy classes and keelboats – as well as other highlights from 2010 including Youth Week and the annual prize-giving event.

[click here to download]