Families lodge 1,168 complaints over stench of landfill site in just one week
After the increase in people raising concerns about controversial Walleys Quarry, in Silverdale, Phil Corrigan says that the Environment Agency is now ‘very concerned’ about the current situation
MORE than 1,100 odour complaints were made about a controversial landfill site in one week.
The Environment Agency (EA) says it is ‘very concerned’ about the glut of complaints it has received in relation to Walleys Quarry in Silverdale, which has now prompted it to bring forward its scheduled visit to the site.
According to the EA’S latest update, there were 1,168 reports of odour in the Newcastle area between April 5 and 11.
EA personnel carried out a site visit to Walleys Quarry last Tuesday to investigate the reasons for the increase, although it has not yet said whether the cause was discovered.
The agency has also announced that two additional air quality units will be installed in the Newcastle area in the next two weeks to support the ongoing monitoring operation.
An EA spokesman said: “There has been an increase in the number of complaints of odour in the area this week.
“We are very concerned about this, and as a result we brought forward our site visit to Walleys Quarry landfill to Tuesday, April 13 to investigate the reason for the increase.
“In the last week we have also visited the immediate vicinity of the site on an almost daily basis to carry out odour amenity checks.
“We recognise and understand the ongoing problems with odour experienced by residents and others in the area.
“As part of our regulation of the site, we continue to inspect the site and surrounding areas on a regular basis.”
Red Industries, which runs Walleys Quarry, is currently carrying out capping of parts of the landfill, in line with an enforcement notice issued by the EA last month.
The EA says that waste being brought to the landfill, including ‘blue powder’ which some people have reported seeing on social media, is permitted under current restrictions.
A report of a pipe discharging into the Silverdale Brook on March 27 has also been investigated.
Officers found a section of pipe from one of the on-site lagoons was
leaking. Analysis has shown that it was ‘typical of what would have passed through different geological layers’.
Red Industries recently reported the results of independent testing it had commissioned, which it says indicated other potential sources of hydrogen sulphide contamination.
The EA is currently looking into this with its partner agencies.