Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what risk assessment has been carried out by the Environment Agency ahead of the proposed reopening of Watsons Tip at Droppingwell in Kimberworth.

The Environment Agency (EA) regulates ‘Watson’s Tip’, also known as Droppingwell Landfill, under an environmental permit issued to Grange Landfill Limited (GLL).

Historically, this landfill has received a range of waste types. Landfilling was suspended in the late 1990s as it could not fully comply with the new environmental standards under the European Landfill Directive. Although the operator decided to suspend further waste disposal, the environmental permit was not surrendered and remained in force.

In 2015, GLL applied to the EA to vary the existing permit to enable the disposal of inert wastes only. Inert wastes, for example soil and stone, are defined as materials that do not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological transformation. As part of its application, GLL was required to demonstrate that the new activity would meet the requirements of the Landfill Directive. GLL was also required to submit a detailed risk assessment to identify potential effects on nearby receptors and to propose any necessary mitigation. The EA has thoroughly assessed the risk assessments submitted in support of the permit application and is satisfied that all aspects that could affect the environment and human health have been addressed to a satisfactory standard.

After due consideration of the application, the EA issued the permit variation on 23 March 2016. The varied permit takes account of all legislative requirements under the Landfill Directive and includes a number of pre-operational conditions that must be complied with before waste disposal can resume. This includes a requirement to put additional measures in place to monitor for potential impacts from the site on the local environment. Monitoring boreholes have therefore been installed to monitor groundwater and gas levels around the historic landfill area (referred to as Phase 1).

The EA is aware of two assessments that have been undertaken to determine baseline contamination levels within the historically deposited landfill area (Phase 1). An initial assessment was carried out on 18 May 1990 by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) Department of Environmental Health. This showed that samples taken from the surface of the historic landfill (Phase 1) were heavily contaminated with a wide range of materials. In January 2017 an assessment was undertaken requiring analysis of composite soil samples taken from each of the in-waste monitoring boreholes installed within the historic landfill area (Phase 1). This also identified the presence of elevated levels of hazardous substances in the historic waste.

It is important to note that there will be no excavation into, or disturbance of, the historically deposited waste in the Phase 1 area when landfilling resumes with inert wastes.

The EA has met the Chief Executive of RMBC and her team a number of times regarding this landfill. The EA continues to work together with RMBC to share information with residents about the landfill. The EA attended RMBC’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on 28 January 2020 to answer questions about the landfill from local councillors and members of the public. Given the widespread interest in this site, the EA has placed regular updates on its public portal (citizen space) and has continually liaised with the hon. Member for Rotherham in whose constituency the landfill sits, as well as the local community action group.