Funeral pyre
Researchers suggest a radical disposal method for UK farm animals slaughtered due to foot and mouth disease - napalm
As the carcasses of slaughtered animals pile up on British farms, American researchers have suggested a radical solution - napalm.

They say it would be a faster, cheaper and more efficient way of disposing of animals than the pyres now burning in fields across the country.
Up to 60,000 animals have been left to rot in fields and barns, after slaughter to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease. Farmers are waiting as long as 10 days for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) to dispose of the carcasses. With Britain now planning to slaughter 500,000 healthy animals within a three-kilometre radius of infected farms, the problem is set to become much worse.

Fast fire
Faced with a similar task during an outbreak of anthrax in Reno, Nevada, in August last year, Ron Anderson of the Nevada Department of Agriculture came up with the idea of using napalm.
His experiments show that napalm, a mixture of polystyrene and an adhesive mixed with diesel or petrol, can destroy a carcass in just 60 minutes. In contrast, burning animals on a pyre of wood takes three days.
The napalm is simply sprayed onto the animal carcasses and set alight. Napalm-fuelled flame throwers can be used to boost the flames if required.

Napalm sounds dangerous, but it is actually relatively easy and safe to use, and probably safer than either petrol or diesel alone, says Martin Hugh-Jones at the School of Veterinary Medicine in Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. "Napalm does not vaporise easily and so does not produce dangerous fumes," he says. "Nor does it produce any dangerous by-products as a result of burning."

Cost effective
It's cheap, too. Whereas pyres can cost up to £1400 per carcass, Anderson estimates that a carcass can be destroyed for just a couple of pounds using napalm. "We are talking pennies," he says, once the investment has been made in the equipment.
What's more, it takes only two people to operate the napalm system. The equipment is light and portable and can easily be transported from farm to farm. There would be no need to transport the lorry-loads of timber and old tyres needed to build a pyre.

However, a spokeswoman for MAFF says it has no plans to use napalm. "It is not an option that has been looked at so far," she says. "There are likely to be safety concerns that we would need to look at first, and we would need to have a lot of discussion about the risks."
The tally of foot and mouth cases has already exceeded 400 and the outbreak shows no sign of abating.

From the New Scientist (latest issue)

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And this from Jim Finamore: (an agricultural engineer in Stoke Climsland Cornwall)
I am extremely concerned about the pyres smouldering for a week.

Dig a trench (12" trenching bucket) and lay 6" perforated pipe, blocked at one end. Lay the pallets, coal and straw, light the fire and then blow a compressor through the pipe, "you would have a fire like you wouldn't believe"!

This way, the fires will do as they are intended.

I spoke to a guy at MAFF in Truro who sounded very interested and said he would "tell his colleague", but they never called me back.

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These are both worth considering. The quote from the MAFF spokeswoman "we would need to have a lot of discussion about the risks." might indicate why we are in so much trouble now.
Regards
Jo Rider
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