User:Rashaaasfour/Gruinard Island

Early History
The island was mentioned by Dean Munro who traveled the area in the mid-16th century. He wrote that it was Clan MacKenzie territory, "full of woods" (it is treeless today), and that it was "guid for fostering of thieves and rebellis" (good for fostering thieves and rebels).

Historically, the counties of Ross-shire and Cromartyshire have both laid claim to Gruinard Island due to the position of the island in between Gairloch and Ullapool. In the late 1780's, the villages became substantial fishing and sheep farming communities leading Gruinard Island to be utilized as an area of land for grazing sheep or as a small dock for fishing. By 1881, the population on the island was 6, soon becoming uninhabited with no record detailing any established population.

In 1926, Rosalynd Maitland purchased the Eilean Darach estate which included Gruinard Island. Rosalynd Maitland bequeathed the island to her niece Molly Dunphie who was friends with Winston Churchill.

Biological Warfare
In 1942, during the Second World War, a biological warfare test was carried out on Gruinard by British military scientists from the Biology Department of Porton Down. The British government was investigating the feasibility of a bioweapons attack using anthrax. It was recognized that tests would cause long-lasting contamination of the immediate area by anthrax spores, so a remote and uninhabited island was required. Gruinard was surveyed, deemed suitable, and requisitioned from its owners by the British government. Porton Down meteorologist Sir Oliver Graham Sutton was put in charge of a fifty-man team to conduct the trial, with David Henderson in charge of the germ bomb. Biology Department head Paul Fildes made frequent visits.

The anthrax strain chosen was highly virulent type called "Vollum 14578", named after R. L. Vollum, Professor of Bacteriology at the University of Oxford, who supplied it. Eighty sheep were taken to the island and bombs filled with anthrax spores were detonated close to where selected groups were tethered. The sheep became infected with anthrax and began to die within days of exposure.

Some of the experiments were recorded on 16 mm color movie film, which was declassified in 1997. One sequence shows the detonation of an anthrax bomb fixed at the end of a tall pole supported with guy ropes. After the bomb explodes, a brownish aerosol cloud drifts away towards the target animals. A later sequence shows anthrax-infected sheep carcasses being burned in incinerators at the end of the experiment.

After the tests were completed, scientists concluded that a large release of anthrax spores would thoroughly pollute German cities, rendering them uninhabitable for decades afterwards. Those conclusions were supported by the inability to decontaminate the island after the experiment—the spores were sufficiently durable to resist any efforts at decontamination. In one earlier experiment, it was proved by Louis Pasteur that sheep could become infected with anthrax from ingesting the grass grown over the corpses of deceased mammals that had been previously infected with anthrax.

Though no exact contamination levels were recorded, Porton Down scientists did confirm that the soil levels were contaminated through annual testing between 1948 and 1968. Porton Down personnel were the only ones allowed to visit the island due to these periodic check of toxicity. It was clear that the anthrax was not going to be going away easily.

In 1945, when the island's owner sought its return, the Ministry of Supply recognized that the island was contaminated, and so could not be de-requisitioned until it was deemed safe. In 1946, the government agreed to acquire the island and to take responsibility for it. The owner or their heirs would be able to repurchase the island for £500 when it was declared "fit for habitation by man and beast".

Operation Dark Harvest
In 1981 an extremist Scottish group calling themselves "Dark Harvest" began spreading the word that they tested soil samples they collected through a "team of microbiologists from two universities" that had landed on the island with the aid of local people and collected 300 lb of soil.

The group threatened to leave samples of the soil "at appropriate points that will ensure the rapid loss of indifference of the government and the equally rapid education of the general public". The same day a sealed package of soil was left outside the military research facility at Porton Down; tests revealed that it contained anthrax bacilli. A few days later another sealed package of soil was left in Blackpool, where the governing Conservative Party was holding its annual conference.

An extensive investigation was launched on Gruinard due to the public pressure and overall discomfort about having the island be possible nearby biohazard. After a survey of the island it was found that while the spores had lost little of their potency and were still a threat to wildlife and people, the anthrax had been over all contained to areas around the sheep tethering grounds.  The best explanation of this is the environment of Gruinard. The typically cooler temperatures kept the spores somewhat under control. If the spores were released in a warmer climate, it is likely that they would have been more infectious as the warmer temperatures increase the suitability of the soil. Within the top eighteen inches of soil there was varying levels of spores ranging from 3,000 to 45,000 spores per one gram of soil.

Decontamination
Starting in 1986 a determined effort was made to decontaminate the island: 280 tonnes of formaldehyde solution diluted in sea water was sprayed over all 485 acres (196 hectares) of the island and the worst-contaminated topsoil around the dispersal site was removed. Run-off from the formaldehyde seeped into the ocean and slowly led to the destruction of intertidal organisms–barnacles, crustaceans, seaweed, etc...By 2000, research into intertidal organisms recovery launched and is still ongoing; however, researchers from that survey project have said that “recolonization is ongoing, rather than complete.”

A flock of sheep was placed on the island and remained healthy.

On 24 April 1990, after 48 years of quarantine and four years after the solution was applied, the junior defense minister Michael Neubert visited the island and announced its safety by removing the warning signs. On 1 May 1990, the island was repurchased by the heirs of the original owner for the original sale price of £500. There was some confusion in which members of the public did not know it was only being resold to the original owners and people from around the world sent letters to the British government asking to purchase the island for £500.

Wildfire
On 26 March 2022, the island was burned "from one end to the other" by a wildfire. Eyewitnesses described the scene as "apocalyptic". The cause of the wildfire has not been confirmed but around 200 hectares have been destroyed by the fire. A spokeswoman on behalf of the Gruinard estate did not explicitly state the cause of the fire only that "It hasn't caused any damage. It has done good." Local speculation believes the fire was set as an act of muirburn, a Scottish term when native moorland is burned to provide fresh growth for game and livestock.

On August 5, 2023, some speculate that a worker of Gruinard Estate set fire to Gruinard Island. The island remains uninhabited following the biological warfare testing, meaning that no one was injured in the fire. The Scottish Fire and Rescue said the island falls out of their control as it is not inhabited and not close enough to the mainland to pose a threat of spreading wildfire to other areas.

Tourism
Since it has been deemed "safe" to inhabit, it is possible to visit Gruinard during safe travel conditions. This sort of tourism and travel to the island is mainly seen by dark tourists and those who love to hike. The uninhabited lands mean that the beaches were kept in nearly pristine conditions, ideal for beach campers and that the trails are more difficult. It creates a lot of intrigue with the history being the soil.

References