The Environment Agency's weekly update is now out and can be read through the link at the bottom of this post.
On Monday the EA issued the operator with an enforcement notice to improve its waste acceptance procedures, part of its written management system, by 10 June 2022.
I am glad that enforcement is being stepped up following the recent days of action by the EA and partner agencies. These have also been part of the EA's national misdescription of waste campaign. Enforcement notices are subject to a right of appeal, but should the operator either not appeal or lose the appeal, I expect there will be further breaches announced because of the notice in due course.
I have also been made aware (via a constituent’s FOI request) that there has also been a category 3 breach notice issued on 4th April.
Also in the update, the EA report that capping is going to plan and the gas extraction boreholes have been completed, as per my post on Monday.
Unfortunately there were temporary monitoring interruptions at mobile monitoring facilities (MMFs) over the last week so the data for the two MMFs is not available. The causes have not been established, but there has been no reoccurrence. EA officers did not identify odour when attending the MMFs. This is confirmed by the low number of odour pollution reports from the public during that time.
The EA will also hold their first Facebook Live Q&A on Wednesday 25th May at 4:30pm. You will have to be a member of their Facebook Group to attend. The EA will provide a full transcript of the Q&A for those that cannot. I am pleased that the EA are stepping up their community engagement.
Further enforcement notices and breaches only add to the long list of evidence showing that Walley's Quarry landfill is far from a compliant site. I continue to believe the permit should be revoked and the site capped off completely.
