Douglas Gowan Explained
Douglas Gowan (1943–2018) was a former Assistant Parliamentary Secretary at the National Farmers Union and a researcher on PCBs. He found pollution near Brofiscin Quarry in Wales and filed the first official report in 1972 after nine cows on a local farm died of poisoning.[1]
In 2007 The Ecologist reported that Gowan had been offered witness protection after receiving death threats.[2] He also stated that he had been discredited by Monsanto through a two-year smear campaign.[3] [4]
His work formed the basis of the BBC Radio 4 series Buried: The Last Witness, first broadcast in June 2024.[5] [6]
Welsh actor Michael Sheen first read Gowan's name in an article in Wikipedia in 2017,[7] visited him and recorded a seven-hour interview, and spoke about him in his 2017 Raymond Williams Memorial Lecture.[8] [9]
Notes and References
- News: Vidal . John . 12 February 2007 . Monsanto dumped toxic waste in UK . 24 June 2024 . . en-GB . 0261-3077.
- News: Hughes . Jon . Thomas . Pat . Burying The Truth, the original Ecologist investigation into Monsanto and Brofiscin Quarry . 24 June 2024 . The Ecologist . 11 October 2007 . en.
- Web site: 16 August 2007 . Open letter from Douglas Gowan . 24 June 2024 . The Ecologist . en.
- Web site: Buried - The Last Witness - The Last Witness - 3. Discredit Gowan . 24 June 2024 . BBC Sounds . en-GB.
- Web site: BBC Radio 4 - Buried, The Last Witness . BBC . 24 June 2024.
- News: Wray . Daniel Dylan . 'Please come and see me because I'll be dead soon': how Michael Sheen got sucked into a forever chemicals exposé . 24 June 2024 . . 24 June 2024.
- Web site: How Michael Sheen helped to uncover a dark environmental secret . BBC News . 24 June 2024 . 24 June 2024.
- Web site: Annual Raymond Williams Memorial Lecture . Open University in Wales . 24 June 2024 . en . 10 November 2017.
Web site: [Transcipt of lecture] ]. 24 June 2024 . 27–29.
- Web site: 21 November 2017 . Actor Michael Sheen slams Monsanto for causing pollution in Wales . 24 June 2024 . www.gmwatch.org.