A victory yesterday for the people of King’s Cliffe in Northamptonshire in the UK after the parish council refused permission for low-level radioactive waste to be dumped there. The plan meant ‘as much as 250,000 tonnes of low-level radioactive waste dumped there each year until 2013.’ However, that hasn’t proved enough to stop the company looking to do the dumping. Augean Plc has said it will appeal against the decision.

We like the name Augean. It’s loaded with meaning. It comes from Greek mythology, specifically the fifth task of Hercules. The hero was ordered to clean the 30 years’ worth of animal dung from the stables of King Augeas (the legendary Augean Stables) in a single day.

So you can see why a hazardous waste company would choose the name. Theirs is a heroic mission, cleaning out modern day Augean Stables. It’s a lovely spin on a famous story. The part of the original myth where Hercules dumps the Augean filth on a community against its wishes must have been lost in the mists of time.