Aaron Bell

The World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines are internationally recognised guidelines. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has adopted the WHO air quality guidelines with respect to hydrogen sulphide for assessing odour and short-term exposure in their risk assessment for Walleys Quarry Landfill, available here: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/west-midlands/walleys-quarry-landfill-sliverdale/user_uploads/walley-s-ea-aq-monitoring-health-risk--assessment-august-final.pdf.

The WHO guideline value of 7 µg/m3 (5 ppb) over a 30-minute averaging period is protective of odour annoyance. The WHO guideline value of 150 μg/m3 (107 ppb) as a 24-hour (average) to protect against eye irritation.

Following my recent discussion with the hon. Member, I have taken a close interest in the issue of Walley’s Quarry. I am regularly updated by officials and the Environment Agency about air quality near the site, and the agency’s plans to improve it. The latest reports show a continuing reduction in hydrogen sulphide, which hopefully will improve further still as a result of the ongoing work at the site.

The Environment Agency's plan to reduce hydrogen sulphide emissions arising from Walleys Quarry builds on the work it has done to require the operator to contain, capture, and destroy increasing volumes of hydrogen sulphide. This strategy has seen concentrations decrease at all monitoring stations over recent months, although I recognise there remains significant concern in the local community. In due course, the new capping material installed at the site, and the extra gas wells being dug should further improve the situation.

The Environment Agency charges an annual subsistence charge to landfill sites to fund their regulation. Landfill sites of the same type as Walleys Quarry are charged £18,221.00.

Poorly performing sites pay higher charges and this year Walleys Quarry was charged £22,776.25 – an additional 25%. The current performance of Walleys Quarry would lead to an additional charge of 50% in 2022.

The Environment Agency can also charge the operators for time and materials to recover the costs of additional regulation. Up to 13 August 2021, the operator of Walleys Quarry has been charged £98,622.20 for the additional costs of regulation and communications. The Environment Agency will continue to charge Walleys Quarry the recoverable costs of additional regulation and expects further recharges to be made throughout the rest of the year.

Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2020/21 the Environment Agency stopped illegal activity at 722 sites, contributing to a 14% reduction in known illegal sites from the previous year. In the same period, they prosecuted 12 individuals and companies – leading to over £417,000 of fines. They also prevented the export of more than 11,000 tonnes of illegal waste.

Going forward, the government is preparing significant reforms to continue to increase the pressure on illegal waste operators. Our planned electronic waste tracking reforms will make it harder than ever to mis-identify waste or dispose of it inappropriately. Planned changes to the Carriers, Brokers and Dealers licensing regime will modernise licensing and make it harder still for rogue operators to escape detection. This will come in addition to measures in the Environment Act 2021 which gives agencies stronger powers of entry and access to evidence in prosecuting waste crime.

We provide below the number of unsubstantiated odour reports that have been received about each site regulated by the Environment Agency (EA) for March 2021. The reports have not yet been verified and therefore may not be accurately attributed. The EA seeks to quality-check attributions each month for sites which attract 20 or more reports. This has not yet been done for this data set due to the short timescale involved. To prevent inaccurate attributions, we have anonymised the names of the sites associated with the reports, specifying only the class of activity undertaken. The total number of reports of odour pollution received by the EA in March 2021 was 7516.

The table below provides the full list of the odour reports associated with each of the EA permitted sites for March 2021.

Walleys Quarry Landfill is a high priority for the Environment Agency (EA). The EA has increased the resource focused on regulation of the site and on partnership working to address local concerns as quickly as possible. The EA continues to receive large volumes of complaints from the community surrounding the site and takes each one very seriously.

Earlier this month, the EA issued Red Industries with an enforcement notice legally requiring specific actions to be completed by 30 April, including the capping of certain parts of the site. This should reduce odours to a level where they do not cause an offence (against permit definition).

The EA is also working alongside its partners to ensure air quality monitoring covers their health remits. The EA has agreed two further locations, in addition to those that went live in early March, to site air quality monitoring equipment. The additional units will be in place as soon as possible. The EA is sharing this data with partners, including Public Health England, on a regular basis and has supported a Staffordshire County Council led multi-agency statement on health advice.

The EA is receiving complaint reports from a number of different avenues including via email and phone. These are being updated to the system at regular intervals so these figures may be subject to change.

The information will be placed in the Library.

Since November 2020, the Environment Agency (EA) has received substantiated reports of odour incidents at around 50 sites which it regulates.

Table 1 shows the total number of notifications made to the EA in relation to odour in each month since November 2020. This may include a number of notifications that following investigation may be determined not to fall within the remit of the EA. The majority will be associated with sites that the EA regulates.

Table 1. Total odour notifications made to the Environment Agency

Table 2 shows the number of odour incidents which have been substantiated and linked to sites that the EA regulates, in each month since November 2020. It also includes the number of additional notifications associated with each substantiated incident, where a single incident has received multiple notifications. Due to potential ongoing investigations into these incidents the sites have been anonymised. The data in table 2 is taken from a live system and is subject to change as additional incident information is recorded and the data is further quality assured.

Table 2. Substantiated odour incidents at sites regulated by the Environment Agency

The Environment Agency (EA) received 6938 odour complaints relating to Walley’s Quarry Landfill in the last six months, including a significant increase since December 2020.

The EA is completing regular odour assessments within the local area and undertaking more frequent assessments at locations where it receives the most complaints. Over the last six months the EA has completed 28 amenity assessments and formally visited the site on nine occasions. It has also completed seven procedure and report reviews.

Trained EA officers have detected odour at some locations but could not substantiate reports at a level considered to be of annoyance. The EA will continue with odour assessments and visits to ensure all measures are being used to minimise odour impacting local residents.

We have not made an assessment of the Environment Agency’s report (AAM/TR/2019/12) on Ambient Air Quality at Silverdale. However, the results of the monitoring that informed this report were shared with Public Health England who confirmed that the levels recorded were low and that no long-term health consequences were expected. Public Health England has no evidence of an increase in general practice (GP) consultations or calls to NHS 111 by the neighbouring population for symptoms of breathing difficulties or eye problems, and similarly for GP in-hours consultations for asthma and wheeze. If residents have health concerns, they are advised to consult their local GP. Public Health England continues to support the Environment Agency and local stakeholders with community engagement. Public Health England maintain that living close to a well-managed landfill site does not pose a significant risk to human health.

The Environment Agency regulates waste disposal sites and monitors compliance with environmental permits, and we have made legislative changes to improve Environment Agency powers to tackle problem waste sites. As of November 2018, waste management facilities must have a written management system, designed to reduce impacts on local communities and the environment, and our Resources and Waste strategy committed to further strengthening technical competence requirements for site operators.

The environmental permitting system for waste sites ensures that the Environment Agency is able to regulate against conditions in permits which aim to protect the environment and human health. The Environment Agency will continue to work with the operator and other local partners to continue to monitor the situation and take action wherever necessary.

Where issues, including odour, could be a statutory nuisance under Section 79(1)(d) the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local councils are responsible for investigating these complaints.

We have not made an assessment of the Environment Agency’s report (AAM/TR/2019/12) on Ambient Air Quality at Silverdale. However, the results of the monitoring that informed this report were shared with Public Health England who confirmed that the levels recorded were low and that no long-term health consequences were expected. Public Health England has no evidence of an increase in general practice (GP) consultations or calls to NHS 111 by the neighbouring population for symptoms of breathing difficulties or eye problems, and similarly for GP in-hours consultations for asthma and wheeze. If residents have health concerns, they are advised to consult their local GP. Public Health England continues to support the Environment Agency and local stakeholders with community engagement. Public Health England maintain that living close to a well-managed landfill site does not pose a significant risk to human health.

The Environment Agency regulates waste disposal sites and monitors compliance with environmental permits, and we have made legislative changes to improve Environment Agency powers to tackle problem waste sites. As of November 2018, waste management facilities must have a written management system, designed to reduce impacts on local communities and the environment, and our Resources and Waste strategy committed to further strengthening technical competence requirements for site operators.

The environmental permitting system for waste sites ensures that the Environment Agency is able to regulate against conditions in permits which aim to protect the environment and human health. The Environment Agency will continue to work with the operator and other local partners to continue to monitor the situation and take action wherever necessary.

Where issues, including odour, could be a statutory nuisance under Section 79(1)(d) the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local councils are responsible for investigating these complaints.

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs due to time.

Scientific instrumentation used for detecting odours in the outdoors can only be used to assess a very small number of gases, and the detection limits in these instruments may not be low enough to detect all the compounds responsible for odour annoyance detected by the human nose. The Environment Agency makes use of ambient air monitoring using instruments for specific odorous gases where this will yield useful results.

The Environment Agency regularly reviews new equipment with potential for use in field odour assessments as and when it becomes available. However, so far these solutions have not been found to be as robust and versatile as the current methods used.

Walley’s Quarry landfill site holds a permit that is issued and regulated by the Environment Agency (EA), and the EA takes seriously any concerns expressed regarding the site. Although no landfill will ever be completely odour free, the level and type of odour arising from such operations should not be causing annoyance.

The table below details the number of odour complaints (reports of incidents received through the EA Incident Communication Service) about Walley’s Quarry Landfill, over the last two-year period.

The Environment Agency receives reports of odour from members of the public via the National Pollution Reporting Hotline. The numbers in the table below represent all reports received since January 2019 from members of the public across England, rather than those that have been assessed by a local Environment Agency officer and confirmed to be correctly attributed to a site that the Environment Agency regulates. The Environment Agency does not collate figures centrally for that number.

Defra's national monitoring network does not monitor hydrogen sulphide levels.

The Environment Agency (EA) monitors specific sites within the Newcastle-under-Lyme area. In particular, on the Walley's Quarry Landfill site, the EA carried out an ambient air monitoring study between January 2019 and June 2019. The EA deployed a Mobile Monitoring Facility (MMF) to the north of Walleys landfill site between 15 January 2019 and 12 February 2019. Comparison of the hydrogen sulphide data with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines showed that concentrations were below health limits but exceeded odour limits for 6% of this monitoring period. The MMF was then relocated approximately 60 metres to the east between 28 February 2019 and 25 June 2019. Comparison of the hydrogen sulphide data with the WHO guidelines showed that concentrations were below health limits but exceeded odour limits for 1% of the monitoring period.

The EA will be continuing with its regular odour assessments and site inspections and will take appropriate action as part of its regulation of the Walley's Quarry Landfill site, should it identify any areas where the Operator is not compliant with their permit conditions.

Landfill sites are regulated under Environmental Permitting Regulations by the Environment Agency (EA). The EA operates a national network of air quality monitoring sites on behalf of Defra. These are designed to provide a representative sample of air quality across the UK, and will not be specific to individual regulated sites. In addition to its statutory air quality activities, the EA can use air quality monitoring equipment in some circumstances to monitor for certain trace gases that form odorous compounds. This is carried out using the EA’s mobile monitoring facilities.

The Environment Agency (EA) conducted an emissions to air assessment of the new application and is satisfied that air quality levels will not be impacted and there will be no additional emissions from landfill gas or risk of additional odour.

The operator's Odour Management Plan complies with EA guidance and reflects the industry best practice. The EA is satisfied it will minimise the risk of odour pollution, and that they have sufficient controls within the permit conditions to enable further measures to be implemented if required. The benefit of the variation is that the Operator could complete the landfill sooner (by 2024 not 2026) accelerating the progressive capping of the site.

The operator's gas management plan complies with the relevant landfill directive and permit conditions and the EA does not consider emissions from the installation will cause significant pollution to the environment or harm to human health. The increase in annual tonnages at the site would not change the amount of gas produced but would bring forward the peak gas production rate. The site is already permitted to operate a gas utilisation plant which has the capacity to combust the maximum volume of gas which will be produced.

No recent assessments have been made of odour regulations. The government considers that current provisions under the Environmental Permitting and Statutory Nuisance regimes provide adequate protection.

Landfill sites in England must be operated in accordance with an environmental permit, regulated by the Environment Agency. Where issues could be a statutory nuisance under Section 79(1)(d) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local councils are responsible for investigating these complaints.

The illegal dumping of waste, including fly-tipping, is an unacceptable blight on local communities and the environment. The government is committed to cracking down on the waste and carelessness that destroys our natural environment and kills marine life. We are also committed to increasing the penalties for fly-tipping.

Over the last five years we have strengthened and expanded the powers available to tackle the illegal dumping of waste. Local authorities have the power to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £400 to those caught fly-tipping or to householders who pass their waste to a fly-tipper. Vehicles of those suspected of committing a waste crime, including illegal dumping, can be searched and seized.

Those accused of illegal dumping can be prosecuted and, on conviction, can face a fine, up to 12 months imprisonment, or both in a Magistrates Court; or a fine, up to 5 years imprisonment, or both, in a Crown Court. Local authorities carried out a total of 2,397 prosecutions for fly-tipping offences in England in 2018/19, an increase of 7% on 2017/18. The value of total fines increased by 29% to £1,090,000 compared to 2017/18.

We have invested £60 million in the Environment Agency’s waste crime enforcement work since 2014. This year’s Budget committed the government to investing £7.2 million in the development of electronic waste tracking, as well as £0.5 million in 2020/21 to support innovative approaches to tackling fly-tipping.

In the Resources and Waste Strategy we committed to reforming the regulation of waste carriers, tightening up the regulation of the waste exemptions regime and improving intelligence sharing and joint working between enforcement agencies. The Joint Unit for Waste Crime, led by the Environment Agency and including the National Crime Agency, HMRC, the Police and others, was established earlier this year and has already had a number of operational successes.

The Environment Bill includes a number of measures to help tackle waste crime. It will enable Government to mandate the use of electronic waste tracking; simplify the process for enforcement authorities to enter premises under a warrant; introduce a new power to search for and seize evidence of waste crime; and reduce the cost and bureaucracy when the police seize vehicles involved in waste crime on behalf of the Environment Agency.

The Netherlands, like other EU Member States, can request HGV registration details under Mutual Legal Assistance provisions. However, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement suspends timescales for responding to Mutual Legal Assistance requests for vehicle registration data in respect of the enforcement of minor traffic offences until 1 January 2024. Requests are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

We are reviewing our approach to the provision of data once timescales apply.