In 1877, it was reportedly the case that, due to the pollution of a local Leblanc alkali works, "The mud deposited in the Sankey Brook, near St Helens, has been found to contain "no less than 2.26 percent of arsenic"...The water of the Sankey Brook is so acid that iron fittings cannot safely be used in the barges and lock gates." In 2004, St Michael's Golf Course, a municipal golf course in nearby Widnes built atop 30 hectares of land from old chemical waste tips was closed due to high levels of arsenic found in the soil. Reportedly, by 1891, of nearby Widnes and Ditton Marshes were buried under an average depth of of toxic galligu from alkali operations near the Sankey Canal. The galligu detritus was estimated at 10 million tonnes in total weight.