Clayton Hall Landfill Site
16th of July, 2020
Information Letter from The Environment Agency
Clayton Hall Landfill Issue 3
February 2018
If you received newsletters 1 and 2, you will be aware that we are unable to call individuals back due to the high numbers of complaints; this is so that frontline staff can spend their time dealing with the site by requiring improvements and tracking progress.
Update on progress
In January, the specialist drilling-contractor successfully installed gas wells, within the waste, to improve the extraction of landfill gas, these are now connected to the gas field. The installation of some of these wells produced an odour that the community could smell; this work is now complete. We are aware that the odours are continuing and we are very disappointed that Quercia Ltd has failed to minimise the impact on the community. The odour events will form part of our evidence for enforcement action.
It is essential that Quercia Ltd and their contractors manage the gas field carefully in order to ensure that the short, medium and long term risks to the environment are minimised.
We have scheduled our Landfill Gas Technical Specialist to carry out a detailed gas management audit this month. The aim of this is to ensure that the operational practices on site are up to the high standards we expect. If the standards do not meet industry best practise, then we will gather evidence and take appropriate enforcement action.
The second stage of the enforcement notice we served on the company requires further improvements to gas collection, and we expect the company to do everything to make good progress over the next couple of months. We will regularly inspect the site to make sure that the improvements happen quickly.
Many of you will be aware that our officers are conducting air monitoring during the day and early evening. We have been sharing this data with Public Health England for review. We have been talking to some members of the community about locating an ambient air monitoring station; this monitoring will commence in the next few days. Sampling will continue for a number of months, analysing a range of substances so that the impact of the landfill emissions on health can be better understood. We will share the data from the handheld device and the monitoring station with the local community.
Some members of the public have asked us to conduct air sampling in their homes. Whilst this request is understandable, the monitoring equipment we use would give unreliable readings in homes due to interference from other sources such as cooking and fabrics.
We understand that the operator has now opened up lines of communications with the local community and we expect them to continue to improve communications so they can let you know what is happening on site. We will send out another newsletter in the next few weeks to provide you with a further update.
Reporting Odours
If you are experiencing smells you believe are from the site, first contact the site operator on 07961 403782. If you are not happy with their response, orif you want to report an incident to us separately, please call or incident hotline on 0800 807060.
If you have any concerns on the impact on health for you or your family please contact your local GP or ring the NHS helpline on 111.
Feedback
If you did not receive the first newsletter and want a copy or if you do not prefer not to receive the updates please email sharon.goulbourne@environment-agency.go.uk