Waste sites

For a graphic example of the problems arising from illegal waste sites, see the ENDS Report coverage of the Stoney Castle site in Surrey:  ENDS Report, July 2,  2021.  The site has been active as an illegal waste site for over 30 years, with unlawful tipping apparently still going on.  Discovery of toxic waste has led to a clean up plan with the Environment Agency paying 90% of the costs and the local authority the remainder.  The site has an owner, who live abroad. It is noted that the precedent for the arrangements is the 2016 clean up of the Waste4Fuel site at Orpington, Bromley, where the Agency paid £2.7m to clear a mound of accumulated rubbish at the waste transfer site, with the local authority contributing the rest.

Another example of a seemingly intractable problem from waste disposal is a lawful landfill at Cardiff Bay, noted in ENDS Report, November 21, 2021.  A report published by Natural Resources Wales concluded that leachate from the Ferry Road landfill site on the western side of Cardiff was escaping into Cardiff Bay, with the local authority apparently having been aware of the situation since 2017.  Inaccurate maps of the pipe network at the site are cited as the cause of the delay in action to stop the escape.

Text reference: 9-01