Is tip safety on a slippery slope in the face of global warming-driven superstorms?

The Storm Dennis deluge had more effects on Wales than widespread flooding. It also loosened the spoil in several tips, leading to landslides. In a country where the Aberfan disaster still casts a long shadow, this is worrying, especially as there is no o

IN FEBRUARY, thousands of tonnes of rock and debris slid down the side of the valley from the Llanwonno tip in Tylorstown.

One local councillor said an estimated 30,000 tonnes of debris was dislodged by prolonged rain, luckily just sliding into an unoccupied ravine below.

As a comparison, in the Aberfan disaster, 150,000 tonnes of coal waste collapsed on to the village.

The collapse at Llanwonno was one of several landslides to happen in Rhondda Cynon Taff during the torrrential rain of Storm Dennis.

Others slips took place near the council offices in Clydach Vale, on the railway line to Aberdare near Mountain Ash, and in Wattstown. There were others in Clydach and Pontygwaith.

For those living in the community, the landslides were terrifying.

Councillor Mark Adams, who represents Tylorstown, said that these coal tips had to be got rid of.

“People’s safety is far too important,” he said.

In the immediate aftermath, there was 24-hour monitoring. But, what has emerged in the weeks since is that while national registers do exist for some things in Wales – for example, Natural Resources Wales oversees all reservoirs in Wales – there is no national list of all the mine spoil tips, the safety categorisation they have been given or their last inspection date.

As a local resident, you can find out quickly online what the hygiene inspection rating of your local chippy is; you can find out the death rates in your local hospital; you can find out the latest inspection results of your child’s school.

But as to the safety of the coal tips above your village? That’s not so easy.

After the Tylorstown landslip, we asked who was responsible for coal tips, how they were categorised and how often they were inspected.

But there wasn’t a straightforward answer, something even Wales’ Secretary of State recognised was a “surprise”.

Some authorities have maps and give you names of tips and locations and safety ratings quickly.

Others won’t provide the information and will only let you see their register if you turn up at their council offices.

One council told us it was too busy with coronavirus to let us turn up at its offices and see its register.

We learned there are 1,200 spoil tips and they are monitored by a combination of local authorities, the Coal Authority and Natural Resources Wales. Some are owned privately, others by the authorities themselves.

Of these, more than 60 are categorised as being the most at risk. Rhondda Cynon Taff has the most atrisk tips with 30, Merthyr has 18, Caerphilly 13, Bridgend seven, Blaenau Gwent three and Neath one.

All those bodies have a variety of names for the categories to indicate how often the sites need monitoring and what the risks are.

Nor is there any overarching authority that can ensure the necessary checks and monitoring are carried out as they should be.

Since the landslides caused by this winter’s storms and the questions that have been asked by journalists like us, the Coal Authority has been asked to co-ordinate a review of all coal tips and risk assessments.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said that was “underway as a matter of urgency” and the Coal Authority has said the inspections they are ordering will take up to 12 months to complete.

Many believe that it is unforgiveable that, given Wales’ history, the monitoring of these sites is so haphazard and so opaque.

Plaid Cymru Rhondda AM Leanne Wood said: “Everyone should be clear on who is responsible for these, and that should be one body.

“These checks are a safety net for us. Worry and concern is heightened in the middle of a weather event.

“Everyone then relaxes when the rain stops and that’s what concerns me, because we know that with climate change these events are going to become more frequent and more damaging to people and land.

“What worried me on the day that the Tylorstown landslip happened is that no-one seemed to know who owned the land.”

We asked all the authorities responsible for monitoring coal tips in Wales the same four questions.

We wanted to establish if we could list or map those that were the most at risk and ascertain what was being done to monitor them. So we asked:

■ Does the council oversee any coal tips?

■ Is there a register/document detailing them?

■ If not, how many tips fall under the council’s remit?

■ Are they categorised? If so, what are the categories.

The answers are below...

RHONDDA CYNON TAFF

As most of the landslides during Storm Dennis were in Rhondda Cynon Taff, we also asked to interview an officer dealing with this. But the council did not facilitate this.

They did tell us that the council has 253 sites and that 11 are in the most at-risk Category D that are deemed to be of direct/indirect risk to life and property with a known history of movement or instability.

We cannot, however, tell you where they are or which ones are in what categories, as that information was not provided.

Thanks to reporting from the Local

Democracy Service, we know that Ynyshir Tip and Albion Tip in Cilfynydd were inspected immediately after the Llanwonno landslide, but we were not able to ask for more details.

There are also 32 sites in Category C in RCT that have the potential to directly risk life or property, which have no history of movement and are inspected every six months.

In the less worrying categories, there are 126 tips in Category B that are inspected every year. And there are 84 in Category A that are inspected every two to four years.

Instead of an interview, a statement was sent: “We have undertaken independent inspections of all Category C and Category D tips since Storm Dennis, some have required further inspections.

“The Coal Authority will commence inspecting these C&D tips from Monday, March 16, following more recent storm events. This will free up council resources to inspect our Category B tips, which are lowerrisk tips.”

MERTHYR

Merthyr council would not send us its register. Instead we were allowed to go and see it with an appointment. It was a spreadsheet on a computer.

Merthyr oversees 120 tips as well as 11 quarries. The spreadsheet contains the tip number, category, grid reference, name and a corresponding plan. The council has inspection records dating back to the 1970s.

Asked their categories, they

responded: 18 are in Category D (high-risk, inspected every six months), 41 are Category C (medium-risk, inspected every 12 months), 37 are Category B (lowrisk, inspected every two years) and 35 are Category A (low-risk, inspected every four years).

The council-owned Category D coal tips are Incline Top, Penydarren; Pan-y-Ffyndd, Penyard; Graig Pit, Lower Pentrebach; Nant yr Odyn, Pentrebach; Ynysfach and Bedlinog.

The council would not provide details of the other 12 high-risk tips it monitors, which are owned privately.

NEATH PORT TALBOT

There are 170 tips within NPT boundary.

The council itself owns 42, Celtic Energy own 10, there are 63 which are privately owned and 15 are in unknown ownership.

Just one is Category D – that’s Eaglesbush Colliery.

There are three in Category C: Complex at the Centre of Cwmafan; Torymynydd Rhondda Colliery; Pwll y Gwalaw.

BRIDGEND

There are 121 in the council area, “all of which are subject to regular checks” and, at the time of asking, 41 were being inspected but they were “purely a precaution”.

Seven of the tips are in Bridgend’s highest at-risk category, although the council doesn’t call this Category D. Again, we cannot tell you where these are as the information was not provided.

A spokesman said: “The council doesn’t use the A-D system of categorisation – this was reviewed circa 2006 after a large number of sites were developed or reclaimed, and a new system of high, moderate and low is now in use.

“We currently have seven sites placed in the ‘high’ category, mainly because of factors such as where they are located and which parts of the county borough saw the highest levels of rainfall”.

Inspections include checking for visual signs of instability and problems that could lead to instability – blocked drains, watercourses, culverts, leaning retaining walls, water breaking out of slopes, etc.

There have been 30 inspections already, with the remainder due to be completed next week.

TORFAEN

Torfaen council told us it inspected two tips at The British and Blaensychan which it had “visually inspected” and were of “no cause for concern”.

BLAENAU GWENT

Blaenau Gwent said it has a list of around 90 tips or areas of land instability and was “currently working with the Coal Authority to inspect and assess these areas”.

MONMOUTHSHIRE

Monmouthshire said it had a small number of tips around Llanelly Hill, near Brynmawr, and was working with Caerphilly to bring in a more rigorous regime of inspection.

CARMARTHENSHIRE

Carmarthenshire monitors eight sites, only three of which it owns. It told us that its register was available to inspect on request but it was busy with coronavirus.

A spokesperson said: “We are prioritising resources on preparing for coronavirus impact, so this may not be possible for a while.”

All the sites in Carmarthenshire are deemed as low risk, which it calls Category 1.

The Coal Authority

The Coal Authority, which has 24 in Wales, immediately provided a map of the tips they inspect.

It also provided a list of disused colliery tips which includes the location and inspection frequency.

Those which are inspected most frequently – every four months – are Tydraw 468 and Tydraw 221, Glenrhondda 469 and Glenrhondda 220, which are all in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

Natural Resources Wales

Natural Resources Wales provided a list of 112 colliery spoil tip sites they manage. Just one is classed as high-risk, which is in Treherbert and is jointly monitored by them and the Coal Authority.

Some sites are inspected at least annually by Natural Resources Wales and the Coal Authority, but are not high-risk.

“Several are fully reclaimed sites and regular inspections are carried out to ensure they are in good condition. Any required maintenance is then carried out.

“Natural Resources Wales is only responsible for colliery tip inspections on land that we own and land we manage on behalf of the Welsh Government, upon which there are 120 tips in south Wales.

“Not all of these are colliery spoil, some are quarry and iron furnace waste.

“The sites are monitored based on the risk of failure and impact that would have; based on this an inspection frequency is determined.

“We only have one high-risk site that is monitored jointly with the Coal Authority and remote sensing equipment is used so it can be continually monitored.

“We have contracts in place for monitoring and many sites have been monitored for the last 25 years.”

What is being done?

In the aftermath of the storm, politicians in both Westminster and Cardiff Bay asked for answers.

Rhondda AM Leanne Wood asked First Minister Mark Drakeford: “We need to recalibrate what we thought was once safe, due to the adverse weather that is becoming increasingly common due to the climate emergency.

“Will he also accept that this new normal cannot be acceptable? We should have known that this was coming; we do know that it will happen again.”

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney MP Gerald Jones said in a flooding debate in the Commons: “Tips are a huge area of concern for my constituency and many others, and we need assurances that both publicly and privately-owned tips are adequately monitored.

“In my constituency, the community of Aberfan suffered more than anywhere due to the impact of coal tips that had not been properly monitored, and people are understandably very concerned about this issue.”

His Labour colleague, Ogmore’s Chris Elmore, raised the issue with Secretary of State Simon Hart, asking: “Will he assure me and other Members that no matter where responsibility lies, the UK Government will provide funding to ensure that the coal slips are safe?

“He will agree that we do not want a repeat of what has happened in the past, when governments have argued over maintenance, controls and safety, and we have had situations like Aberfan.”

Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart admitted to the Commons it would be a surprise for some “to learn that no such thorough document exists”.

Mr Hart told the Commons he understand the potential for landslides was “almost as much concern as some of the flooding risk”.

He referenced a meeting between interested parties, and said that he, along with First Minister Mark Drakeford, has asked for an up-to-date database of the sites and who owns them, and a risk assessment to be undertaken as a matter of urgency “as to the integrity of these sites and what exactly the legal liabilities are and where they lie”.

He added: “We have also asked for an outline of a potential time-scale and cost for addressing problems associated with these sites, bearing in mind that it is difficult to get on to them at the moment because of the weather conditions that caused the problems in the first place.”

In response to our questions, Lisa Pinney, chief executive at the Coal Authority, said: “The Coal Authority is undertaking an urgent review of all coal tips throughout Wales to assess any risk posed to people or property.

“We are working closely with the Welsh Local Government Association, local authorities and Natural Resources Wales and good progress is being made.

“We’re working quickly to collect data from our partners and, based on the information assessed and categorised so far, we’ve drawn up an inspection schedule for the coal tips in Wales.

“These priority inspections are already taking place and we expect this work to continue over the next six to 12 months.

“There is no central record for disused spoil tips associated with mining in Britain.

“Every mining operation will have generated waste material of some kind, and for coal-mining it is estimated that there are more than 5,000 disused colliery tips in Britain, with more than 1,200 of these in Wales

“The majority of disused tips are now in either local authority or private ownership, along with the legal responsibility for preventing any danger to the public.

“All but a few of the spoil tips were transferred to the current owners following the rapid closure of the coal industry and break-up of British Coal (formerly National Coal Board) and disposal of its land.”