If you have been concerned about pollution that might be caused by Heathrow Expansion you should watch Buried by Michael Sheen. Episode 1 aired on BBC2 on Monday night and is now available on BBC IPlayer.

It’s a story about a massive cover-up by Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, of dumping carcinogenic chemicals, in which government and environmental agencies have been complicit.

One consequence has been that dumping of waste, when banned in Alabama in 1971, was moved to a dozen or so quarry sites in South Wales and one in Cheshire, some of which drain into local waterways. The key element is polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), compounds of which are highly toxic. “The godfather of forever chemicals.” Their use was banned in the UK in 1987, but dumped waste remains a problem. Independent testing has been conducted showing that in one area toxicity is 2,000 times a safe level.

Terrifying as this story is in itself, it is not without relevance to Heathrow expansion. Profit is more important than people’s health and welfare, both to the companies involved and to government agencies. Principles for decisions are established which diminish the value of health and safety.

“We can’t afford to lose one dollar of profit.” “A little bit of the corporate brain was removed to not have to worry about the dangers of what they’re doing to people.”