Welcome to the Protect Blackdog Blog!

Blackdog is a small village in Scotland made up of 82 houses. It is so small, that most will probably not even know that it exists, let alone where it is located.

And this has made it easy for the small, scenic beach-side village to become a local dumping ground for numerous decades. The residents of Blackdog are surrounded by 19 landfills, many of which were operational before regulations were put into effect. 

The little village almost became the home to a large garbage incinerator.

The Blackdog Beachside Tip landfill is the second most contaminated parcel of land in all of Scotland. Once again, Blackdog was blessed -- or shall we say cursed -- by its close proximity.

A recent occurrence, however, has the entire village angry and worried, because it has, once again, been chosen for yet another project.

Vattenfall, an energy company, has chosen Blackdog as the site for its electrical substation. It will connect the controversial EOWDC wind farm to the mainland through the village.

Unfortunately for the residents, the substation will be built approximately 60 feet from several houses, and it will be constructed over the Strabathie landfill, which was unlicensed until 1978.

Why are the people worried?

First, Blackdog has few amenities. An area of the beach is polluted by the Beachside Tip, and the location of this substation is one of the few peaceful places left. 

Who would want to live near a substation?

Second, digging up a landfill in order to build the substation is a bad idea. The landfill was unregulated for nearly 50 years, since it has been reportedly operational since the 1930s. That means that anything could be deep below the surface. 

Residents remember some of the following being dumped there: lorry loads of asbestos in the 1950s; "Rodine", a brand of rat poison that was discarded by the Council after it was banned; red oxide paints; cars and batteries; and tyres from RAF Dyce -- just to name a few possibilities.

This blog was created to document was is happening in Blackdog. The village may be small, but it has a big voice.