When: During 2017

What’s happening: Various Bedford river events.

Waste firm Associated Waste Management Ltd has been fined £125,000 for causing odour pollution at its sites in Leeds and Bradford.

The company was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on 6 March 2017 after previously admitting two environmental offences relating to its waste transfer facilities in Gelderd Road, Leeds and Canal Road, Bradford.

The Environment Agency prosecuted the company following repeated odour problems that had a detrimental effect on local residents.

Austin Stoton, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court that AWM’s Leeds site caused repeated odour problems between June 2012 and October 2013. During this time, Environment Agency officers carried out around 75 odour assessments, and most of them recorded smells that were likely to cause offence to human senses.

In October 2013 the Environment Agency suspended the company’s permit for the Leeds facility, preventing it from bringing any more waste onto the site until it had made improvements to its odour management plan. This new plan was approved that month and the permit was reinstated.

In the same year, between March and July, AWM’s Bradford site was also the cause of odour issues. These prompted local residents to complain on 49 separate dates.

One resident had complained that the odour was so bad that it had made him feel sick. He also said that if there was a smell present, he couldn’t open windows and his family couldn’t spend time in the garden. Another resident said at the time that he and his family had found it virtually impossible to have any enjoyment from their garden.

An inspection visit in March 2013 revealed that the company was not closing the shutters on a tipping shed used by bin wagons, which allowed the smell of rotting waste to leave the site.

In July, the Environment Agency served an enforcement notice on the firm that required it to improve its odour management plan for the site. The company’s first revision of this document, submitted in August, was rejected as inadequate and it wasn’t until October that a new plan was approved.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said after the hearing:

Waste sites like those managed by AWM can have a detrimental impact on local communities if they are not managed properly. That’s why it is vital that operators adhere to environmental regulations and the conditions on their environmental permits.

In this case, AWM failed to maintain high standards of odour management at its facilities in Leeds and Bradford, and local residents suffered as a result. We hope today’s outcome demonstrates that odour pollution is not acceptable and that the Environment Agency will take action against businesses that fail to adhere to permitting rules.

In mitigation, the company told the court that it had relied upon an external company that had approached it regarding odour suppression equipment, which had not worked.

AWM was fined £75,000 for the Leeds offence, and £50,000 for the Bradford offence. It was also ordered to pay £75,000 in legal costs.

Due to increased regulatory burden surrounding the Rame Head South disposal site and in light of the continued requirement for dredging and disposal operations, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has been working with the main users of the site in leading a disposal site characterisation study to identify an optimal, sustainable alternative site for long-term dredged material disposal operations within the River Tamar and Plymouth Sound area.

The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) has submitted evidence in support of the proposed site in the form of a Site Characterisation Report. A draft version was consulted on by the MMO as part of a targeted consultation exercise with key stakeholders and advisors. The MMO also made the Site Characterisation Report available on the selected cases page of its website and a period of public consultation took place between 29th November and 23rd December 2016. An Addendum to the Site Characterisation Report has been produced to respond to representations received by the MMO which required a technical response.

The MMO has produced an Evaluation Report which details the conclusions drawn from a review of the evidence submitted, as well as evidence submitted during the consultation period. The MMO has reviewed multiple factors within the Evaluation Report, including environmental, economic and social aspects. Factors included, but are not limited to, the cost to dredging operators with regards to transit times to new sites, the impact on marine ecology, and marine protected areas.

The MMO has considered all available information and concluded that the proposed new disposal has been properly assessed for dredged material. Plymouth Deep (PL035) is now open for marine licence applications for the disposal of dredged material.

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and decision document for:

• Operator name: Total Lindsey Oil Refinery Limited
• Installation name: Total Lindsey Oil Refinery
• Permit number: EPR/TP3633NH/V003

The scheme involves improving existing flood defences along the River Dart from the mainline railway bridge to the Steam Packet Inn. Other measures include providing a new flood wall within Morrisons car park, raising Ashford slipway and providing flood resilience measures to individual properties and flood gates.

Work began on a section of the scheme which didn’t need planning permission in January but now South Hams District Council has given the rest of the scheme the green light.

Dan Boswell, for the Environment Agency, said:

This is a fantastic milestone for us and the residents we have been working with to help us shape our designs.

Since the construction of the original defences flood risk has changed and in recent years there have been at least 2 occasions – 2008 and 2014 – where some properties in the town have come close to flooding from the River Dart.

We always ask people to stay flood aware. People can check their flood risk online, by calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or by following @EnvAgency and #floodaware on Twitter for the latest flood updates.

Once work is completed on Broadmarsh Industrial Estate, work will move to the areas of New Walk, Throgmorton and the Morrisons car park.

Designs for the scheme were drawn up following discussions with landowners and property owners and a public drop-in session in the town in April 2016 and follow-up discussions have been taking place since that time.
The scheme is due to be completed by next winter.

Notes to editors

The project to improve flood defences in Totnes is separate from the planned work at Steamer Quay to repair the existing flood wall. It is hoped that this work will be completed in April 2017.