The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
This decision includes the permit and decision document for:
The Environment Agency has received a permit application from Richland Foods who want to operate an egg-laying chicken farm at Pengwedna Poultry Farm, Nancegollan, Helston, Cornwall TR13 0AZ.
The Environment Agency will be holding a public drop-in event at Nancegollan village hall on Wednesday 18 October 2017 from 10am until 8pm. This is an opportunity to find out more about the environmental permit application and to give your views.
The environmental permit relates to the control of emissions from the facility on the environment and on people’s health. It does not relate to issues such as the choice of location of the site, traffic movements to/from site, visual impact, operating hours and light pollution. These matters are considered through Cornwall Council’s planning application process.
The environmental permit application will consider:
The environmental permit focuses on the assessment of activities and emissions from within the site boundary.
The consultation is an opportunity for local people to give their views on this permit application (reference EPR/QP3835YS/A001). You can view the permit application and supporting documents and see a paper copy at Sir John Moore House, Victoria Square, Bodmin PL31 1EB.
Send your comments by 1 November 2017 (11:59pm), either online, or by email to pscpublicresponse@environment-agency.gov.uk, or in writing to:
Environment Agency Permitting and Support Centre
Land Team
Quadrant 2
99 Parkway Avenue
Sheffield
S9 4WF
General information about permitting.
The planning application can be viewed using Cornwall Council’s online planning register. Cornwall Council’s Local Planning Team can be contacted by telephone on 0300 1234 151 or via email at planning@cornwall.gov.uk.
The Environment Agency has received a permit application from Richland Foods who want to operate an egg-laying chicken farm at Pengwedna Poultry Farm, Nancegollan, Helston, Cornwall TR13 0AZ.
The Environment Agency will be holding a public drop-in event at Nancegollan village hall on Wednesday 18 October 2017 from 10am until 8pm. This is an opportunity to find out more about the environmental permit application and to give your views.
The environmental permit relates to the control of emissions from the facility on the environment and on people’s health. It does not relate to issues such as the choice of location of the site, traffic movements to/from site, visual impact, operating hours and light pollution. These matters are considered through Cornwall Council’s planning application process.
The environmental permit application will consider:
The environmental permit focuses on the assessment of activities and emissions from within the site boundary.
The consultation is an opportunity for local people to give their views on this permit application (reference EPR/QP3835YS/A001). You can view the permit application and supporting documents and see a paper copy at Sir John Moore House, Victoria Square, Bodmin PL31 1EB.
Send your comments by 1 November 2017 (11:59pm), either online, or by email to pscpublicresponse@environment-agency.gov.uk, or in writing to:
Environment Agency Permitting and Support Centre
Land Team
Quadrant 2
99 Parkway Avenue
Sheffield
S9 4WF
General information about permitting.
The planning application can be viewed using Cornwall Council’s online planning register. Cornwall Council’s Local Planning Team can be contacted by telephone on 0300 1234 151 or via email at planning@cornwall.gov.uk.
Farmers whose herds are at risk of bovine TB will be able to access expert help on protecting their animals through a new Defra-funded advisory scheme.
The service launched today at the Dairy Show in Shepton Mallett and will provide both on-farm and phone or email advice to farmers in High Risk and Edge Areas of England with trained consultants providing knowledge to help prevent the spread of bTB based on the biosecurity 5 point plan.
It is an important part of the long-term plan to eradicate the disease in all animals. Bovine TB costs taxpayers over £100 million every year and England has the highest incidence of the disease in Europe. In 2016 more than 29,000 cattle had to be slaughtered in England to control the disease, causing devastation and distress for farmers and rural communities.
The helpline will offer advice to farmers on limiting on-farm disease risk, while farm visits will offer clear, practical advice to help farmers protect their herds and, if needed, manage the impacts of a TB breakdown on their farm. Farmers wanting to register their interest in this can call 01306 779410 or email info@tbas.org.uk.
Over the next three years the service, delivered by industry specialists Origin Group, will offer 2,400 visits to farms in the South West and West Midlands from Cornwall to Derbyshire.
The TB advisory service adds to the support and information already available via the TB Hub.
Welcoming the launch of the new service, Chief Veterinary Officer Nigel Gibbens said:
Bovine TB is one of the greatest animal health threats in the UK and has a devastating impact on our farmers.
As part of our comprehensive long term plan to eradicate the disease, I am delighted to announce that from today, farmers will be able to access even more help and support via the new bTB Advisory Service.
Alongside the existing TB Hub, The bTB Advisory Service will help arm our farmers with the knowledge they need to prevent this devastating disease spreading – a vital weapon in our fight to protect the UK’s herds and our farmers’ futures.
The creation of the bTB Advisory Service was announced last month alongside the relaunch of the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme.
The biosecurity 5 point plan can help farmers protect their herds and those of their neighbours:
They were fined for illegally supplying thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste to a development site in Avonmouth.
The sentencing follows a 5 year Environment Agency investigation into Churngold Recycling Ltd and 2 of its directors, John Barcham and Lee Phelan. Codenamed ‘Operation Durable’, the investigation culminated in a 9 week trial at Bristol Crown Court earlier this year.
Churngold operated a waste transfer site at Hallen Yard on the Severn View Industrial Estate, Avonmouth, where it supplied soil and aggregate for the building industry. Waste was collected from sites across the UK and stored and treated at Hallen Yard.
The company operated under a waste management licence, issued by the Environment Agency. This controlled the types of waste accepted at the transfer station and the activities permitted at the site.
In June 2011, Churngold was awarded a contract to remove hazardous waste from a site in Oxford where the car company, BMW, discovered extensive contamination under a building during re-developing its Cowley factory. Trial pits and testing revealed high levels of heavy metals, hydrocarbons and asbestos contaminated materials.
Churngold was paid £750 per load to remove the hazardous waste to its yard in Avonmouth for treatment prior to it being used as a building material. Between July to September 2011, a total of 31,000 tonnes of waste was brought from Cowley to Churngold’s waste transfer station in Avonmouth. The volume of waste kept increasing and very quickly exceeded the transfer station’s limit of 6,000 tonnes.
Around the same time, Churngold was awarded a contract to supply 60,000 tonnes of aggregate to the site of a new Co-operative supermarket distribution centre at Cabot Park, Avonmouth. The aggregate would be mixed with inert material that had gone through a ‘stabilisation process’ making it suitable for use as a building material.
On 7 September 2011 Churngold delivered the first load to the Co-op site. Over the next fortnight it transported a total of 64,000 tonnes (2,751 loads) to the new distribution centre site.
Ground-workers at the Co-op site said the Churngold material gave them ‘runny and sore eyes’. One worker said it smelt like ‘faeces and bleach’ and ‘took his breath away.’ Others described the clay-like material as ‘smelling like a hospital’.
Waste from the BMW site in Oxford had undergone partial treatment to remove asbestos materials, but some asbestos remained and it was still hazardous when it arrived at the Churngold’s Hallen Yard in Avonmouth. The company was told the waste required further treatment.
As operations manager, Lee Phelan would have been fully aware of the requirements of the transfer station’s permit conditions. Failure by Churngold to fully treat the waste, potentially exposed staff and visitors to Hallen Yard and ground-workers at the Co-op site to health risks from the asbestos.
Churngold’s environment manager became concerned after discovering the hazardous nature of the BMW car plant waste. She told Barcham and Phelan it was ‘untreatable’. They repeatedly ignored her warnings.
On 22 September 2011 a former Churngold employee notified the Co-op that contaminated material had been delivered to their new distribution centre at Cabot Park. Subsequent analysis revealed the presence of asbestos in 47 of 60 samples, high levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) as well as significant levels of leachable lead, cyanide, copper, antimony and total sulphate concentrations that posed a risk to groundwater and nearby watercourses.
Barcham was described as a ‘domineering character’ who liked to micro manage. Nothing would happen without his say so or knowledge including where treated waste went after treatment. He once told the company’s environment manager, ‘We don’t tell the EA what we are doing, we do it and then tell them how we’ve done it.’
The company failed to inform the Environment Agency of the massive amount of hazardous material being stockpiled at Hallen Yard or where it had come from. The sheer volume of materials arriving at the site made it impossible to segregate or treat them properly. This caused the site to breach its permit.
The Environment Agency had earlier advised Churngold that waste containing heavy metals remains hazardous even after it has undergone a stabilisation process. The court heard that while Phelan had worked in the waste industry, he had no qualifications or experience of treating hazardous waste.
Work on the Co-op site was suspended on 1 December 2011 following publication of the analysis report. The Environment Agency confirmed the material was illegally deposited hazardous waste and that it should be removed to a suitable waste facility for safe disposal.
The Environment Agency investigation revealed that Churngold had also illegally disposed of hazardous waste including asbestos, railway sleepers, plastic, metal pipes, vehicle tyres and foam pipe lagging at a second site, Minors Farm, Severnside.
Adrian Evans, for the Environment Agency, said:
Hazardous waste must be handled and treated with great care to safeguard human health and the environment. This case shows the Environment Agency will take serious action against people who fail to comply with the law.
Churngold Recycling Ltd had a culture where commercial gain was given priority over environmental protection. We hope this prosecution sends out a strong deterrent message to others who flout the law.
Churngold Recycling Limited, John Barcham and Lee Phelan faced a total of 10 charges under the Environment Protection Act 1990 and Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 at a 9 week trial that started in May 2017.
Judge James Patrick QC said “the treatment of the waste was unscientific and amateur” and that the defendants showed a “flagrant disregard for the law”.
The company was found guilty of 4 offences. John Barcham was found guilty of 1 offence and Lee Phelan convicted of 3 offences. There were 3 not guilty verdicts and the jury failed to reach a verdict on the 2 remaining charges.
The judge praised the Environment Agency for the quality of their professional investigation.
Summary of convictions:
Churngold Recycling Ltd:
John Barcham:
Lee Phelan: