Environmental permit and monitoring
This page was last updated on 8 August 2022
The operation of the site is regulated by the Environment Agency through an Environmental Permit. The Council has no regulatory powers in relation to the permit. (The site was original regulated through a Waste Management Licence. Waste Management Licences were superseded by a requirement for landfill sites to be permitted by the Environment Agency following the provisions of the Landfill Directive and the Landfill Regulations 2002.)
The permit outlines a number of conditions that the operator has to meet or agree with the Environment Agency prior to operations on the site recommencing, including:
- monitoring of groundwater from the site in a way that is compliant with EA guidance
- setting appropriate limits on groundwater pollutants
- confirming financial provision is in place to ensure the operator can meet the obligations of the permit
- agreeing of construction proposals for phase two
- ensuring the site is secure.
The current Environmental Permit was updated and varied in March 2016.
In January 2017 councillors voted to write to the Environment Agency asking them to revoke the permit to tip on the site. The Environment Agency subsequently responded that:
“In this case, we have had no cause or grounds to refuse the operating company’s application or to subsequently revoke the permit."
Subsequently the Council has made significant representations to the Environment Agency to seek reassurance that the Environment Agency has done, and will do, all it can to ensure the impact on local people or the wider environment is minimised.
The Council has continually explored the legal options to challenge the validity or operation of the environmental permit and has sought significant legal advice on the matter. The conclusion was that:
“The prospects of any challenge to the continuation of the permit are very poor (below 20%).”
See an executive summary of the legal advice, prepared for an update to the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on the 18 March 2021
Environmental monitoring
The Environment Agency undertakes inspections of the site to ensure the permit is being complied with to ensure that the works are fit for purpose. They also monitor the groundwater and gas. The Council has no powers to regulate how works are undertaken.
Site inspections by the Environment Agency take place quarterly.
The Council has raised a number of concerns with the Environment Agency relating to groundwater monitoring at the site, and the Environment Agency undertook an investigation into those concerns. They concluded that they found no evidence of falsification of groundwater sampling data.
On 30 April 2021 the site operator made a formal request to the Council to reinstate groundwater borehole BH05 (GW5), which is on Council land. The Council asked the Environment Agency to confirm what would happen if the borehole was not reinstated, given the monitoring information provided from this is a pre-operational condition of the environmental permit. The Environment Agency responded that:
- the reinstatement of the borehole is preferable but not essential to the monitoring of any impacts from the landfill site, as an initial monitoring programme was in place for at least one year in advance of the site development of phase 2
- failure to reinstate the borehole is not critical in terms of permit regulation as there are sufficient up-gradient and down-gradient groundwater monitoring boreholes on site to assess any potential groundwater impact
- having the borehole operational offers benefits in terms of monitoring any impact of groundwater from the site.
It is clear therefore that a decision to refuse permission to reinstate the borehole on Council land would not prevent the site from reopening. On this basis, the Council gave authorisation for the reinstatement of groundwater borehole BH05 (GW5) on Council land.
At the current time there is no scientific evidence that would enable the Council to undertake additional testing to support the Environment Agency’s statutory role.