Waste Crime: Staffordshire

Debate between Adam Jogee and Robbie Moore

Thursday 5th September 2024 Westminster Hall

[Adam Jogee]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind comments to me and my family. I was going to be a bit meaner to him than I may now be—I am my father’s son—but I do want to ask him two questions. First, in February 2024, a few weeks after the current Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Streatham and Croydon North (Steve Reed), visited Newcastle, the hon. Gentleman also quite rightly visited, and he said that no options were off the table. What did that mean? Secondly, does he think the Environment Agency has the powers it needs to properly get this sorted?

[Robbie Moore]

I distinctly recall saying from the Dispatch Box that no options were off the table, and that specifically meant that, in my view, the site should be closed. Officials will know that those points were being made to officials in the Department and at the Environment Agency, but officials will present other challenges, to do with legal implications and the processes that need to be followed. I am sure that the current Minister will have to deal with those challenges before the Environment Agency is able to take any further action, but there was clear advocacy from the previous ministerial team that Walleys Quarry should be closed. I wish the Minister well and am prepared to work with her to ensure that that solution can be reached.

The Environment Agency also singularly failed to find a solution to sufficiently safeguard the local community against the hazard presented by hydrogen sulphide, a gas released when waste breaks down on the site. For far too long, residents have had to put up with a strong eggy smell, which I experienced for myself when I visited the site. In my view, urgent and decisive action from the Environment Agency is required right now. I certainly made those frustrations known when I was in the Department, as I have indicated.

The Environment Agency has expressed its sympathy for local residents, but now is not the time for sympathy; it is time for action, not words. The Environment Agency put in place regular inspections to monitor levels of hydrogen sulphide. However, the latest data suggests mass under-reporting of the extent of the gas, and that the levels at the site were on average 80% higher than reported by the Environment Agency over a two-year period. The Environment Agency’s response to that latest failure on its part has been to apologise again and to announce another public meeting—yet again, words not actions. We all know that data collection is incredibly important for an enforcer to be able to take action, but the Environment Agency has failed in this simple task and, in my view, has failed to put monitoring points in appropriate locations around the Walleys Quarry site.

--- Later in debate ---

[Adam Jogee]

Will the hon. Member give way?

[Robbie Moore]

I will not, because I think the Minister needs 20 minutes to sum up, and it is only fair to give that to her.

Does the Minister agree that when landfill sites, or sites of a similar nature, are given initial planning permission, a bond should be put in place to deal with remediation costs and compensation payments, for example, so that if a dodgy operator like the one we have seen at Walleys Quarry does not adhere to the conditions it has signed up to or goes bust, local residents in Newcastle-upon-Lyme or elsewhere are not exposed to the costs?

[Adam Jogee]

It is “under”—Newcastle-under-Lyme.

[Robbie Moore]

I apologise—it is because I worked in Newcastle-upon-Tyne for a long time.

I believe that such a bond was not put in place when John Prescott awarded the initial planning consent for the site. Does the Minister agree that the taxpayer should not have to pay a penny towards the costs associated with the remediation or clean-up works, or indeed the enforcement programme that the Environment Agency should carry out when we know an operator is in the wrong? It must be the polluter that pays, not the constituents of the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme or the local council. Further, does the Minister agree that when we talk about “polluter pays”, any fine that the EA imposes should include an element of compensation for those who have been impacted? Finally, does she think that the Environment Agency is fit for purpose in its current format as a robust regulator and enforcer?

I genuinely wish the Minister well on this issue. She has my full support in seeking a closure notice for the site.