Environment Agency
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- Closure Notice issued after exhausting other enforcement options
- Closure Notice starts the process of permanently closing the Newcastle-under-Lyme site
- Company required to stop accepting new waste from Friday 29th November. Permanently cap the remainder of the site and install further landfill gas management infrastructure
The Notice, which has been issued after exhausting other enforcement options, sets out that the company must stop accepting new waste and take effective measures to prevent landfill gas emissions from affecting the local community.
The Notice starts the process of permanently closing the Newcastle-under-Lyme site, after the company was given time to put effective measures in place to manage emissions and yet failed to do so.
Walleys Quary Ltd will now be required to permanently cap the remainder of the site and install further landfill gas management infrastructure. Lorries will only be allowed to enter the site to bring in materials for those purposes.
Ian Jones, Environment Agency West Midlands Area Director, said:
We have every sympathy with the local community and have worked tirelessly to resolve the problem of landfill gas emissions from the site.
In doing so, we have taken a robust approach to regulating Walleys Quarry Ltd. Our aim has always been to bring the operator into compliance with its permit and the decision to issue a Closure Notice is not one we take lightly.
We have given Walleys Quarry Ltd sufficient time to put in place effective measures to manage emissions and it has failed to do so.
Background
- Further information about the Closure Notice is available on the Environment Agencys Engagement HQ page: https://engageenvironmentagency.uk.engagementhq.com/closure-notice. This includes an explainer video.
- Walleys Quarry Ltd has a right of appeal against the Closure Notice, which must be made within two months of the date the Closure Notice is issued. If there is an appeal, an Inspector appointed by the Planning Inspectorate will hear it and decide whether to quash or affirm the Notice.
- Guidance on the standards an operator must meet to close a landfill site and move it into aftercare can be found here:Landfill operators: environmental permits - Close your landfill site - Guidance - GOV.UK
- A typical landfill would usually be the subject of 1 audit, 4 site inspections, 4 monitoring reviews and 1 engineering inspection each year. However, since 2021, the Environment Agency has carried out over 180 inspections at the site. Regulatory action since 2021 has included Enforcement Notices and a