The Toxic Waste Scandal is a new BBC Local podcast series about the real battles faced by a group of families in Kobe, Northamptonshire, to get justice.
They claimed that the children were born in deformation as they were exposed to toxic waste in the 1980s and 1990s while cleaning the town's steelwork.
In the 1970s, Kobe's massive steelwork employed around 10,000 people and transformed the town into a single-industrial hub.
After years of recession, Kobe faced the worst unemployment crisis in the UK when costs and unprofitable steelwork were shut down in 1980.
Local governments have come up with plans to secure millions of pounds with government grants and revive the town.
The wasteland left behind by Steelworks was purchased and the contractors were paid to clean up the dangerous materials. During the cleanup, residents began complaining about the mud on the road, dust on the lungs and the taste of metals in the air.
In 2010, the Corby Borough Council admitted to making mistakes in the cleanup process, and many families reached an out-of-court settlement after they alleged that their children were born in deformation due to the contaminated air.
The series is told by 32-year-old George Taylor, born in 1992 with a transformed thumb and index finger.
In a landmark ruling, the judge accepted that airborne contaminants could have caused birth defects. The court heard that George's mother Fiona had inhaled potentially toxic particles while working with her father, Brian, at a local pub where dusty clean-up workers go.
The story is told from the Taylor family's perspective, and their fight for justice goes all the way to the High Court.
For George, it provides the opportunity to truly understand his family history for the first time. Their stories were also the town's tales at a pivotal moment in the country's industrial history, attracting the attention of American legal activist Erin Broccovich, who followed George's story.
George said: After I was taking special care, Mom and Dad moved me 500 miles north to Aberdeen. Since then, I have never had the opportunity to really understand what happened at Kobe.
“I think people will be surprised by what we found, even if they know this story. It was eye-opening.”
The podcast features rare interviews with key figures, including Barrister Stephen Grime QC, who led the controversial fight with Kobe's mother, and one of the most important men in the cleanup team who still believes he's doing a good job.
Neither of them have spoken publicly before, and both still passionately believe that the council should have won the case.
Chris Burns, a local audio commissioning controller, said:
“It's a story worthy of a larger audience. It's important and I hope people find it just as attractive as us.”
The Toxic Waste Scandal will be available as a box set on Tuesday, March 4th on BBC Sound.
