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Enforcement officers are urging waste carriers and traders not to drop off any rubbish at The Streddars site on Hundreds Road in Crowland.

During its inspection of the site on 23 July 2020, the Environment Agency discovered piles of illegally dumped waste, including construction and demolition materials, metals, plastics and garden waste.

The visit was aimed at gathering evidence and disrupting those believed to be involved in illegal waste activities.

The site is under criminal investigation for suspicion of operating without the legally required waste exemptions or environmental permits.

Yvonne Daly, environment manager at the Environment Agency, said:

“It’s clear that this site has been used by rogue traders to illegally deposit waste. Activities like this have the potential to harm the environment, blight communities and undermine legitimate businesses that do follow the rules.

“Our role is to protect the environment for people and wildlife, so we won’t hesitate to take action against those who put it at risk. And to businesses flouting the rules our message is clear: you won’t get away with it.”

Environment Agency officers are reminding everyone they have a legal duty to ensure they are giving their waste only to registered carriers and that it is taken only to authorised sites for treatment or disposal.

People can check if a waste business is genuine by contacting the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506, 03702 422 529 (minicom) or enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm); people can also check online at www.gov.uk/ea.

The Environment Agency is cracking down on serious and organised waste crime and taking tough action to deal with criminal behaviour. It is working with the police and other enforcement agencies to put waste criminals out of business and take back the profits of their crimes.

The £4.8million Marton West Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme will protect properties in central Middlesbrough against flooding from the beck, the sea, and surface water.

The partnership scheme is being delivered by the Environment Agency and Middlesbrough Council, and was initiated by the Northumbria Regional Flood and Coastal Committee.

Marton West Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme is just one of many schemes across the North East which better protects properties and businesses. In the North East, £132 million is being invested between 2015 and 2021 to create or improve new flood and coastal defences.

Over the next 50 years, the flood alleviation scheme will provide £59m of economic benefit to Middlesbrough. The business case for the project was approved by central Government and forms part of the Environment Agency’s Capital programme to deliver flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes throughout England.

The contractor working on the project is BMMJV, a joint venture between BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald. It is aimed that the scheme will be completed by the end of spring 2021.

Catherine Saxon, Environment Agency, Area Director – North East, said:

We are delighted to welcome the commencement onsite in Middlesbrough of the Marton West Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme. This is wonderful news for residents and businesses in the town centre.

The scheme will be a vital asset for the local community something that will help to protect people for years to come, and forms part of a £132million programme to improve flood defences across the North East. The Environment Agency is pleased to be working in partnership with Middlesbrough Council to deliver this scheme.

We are living in times when climate change brings with it unpredictable weather conditions. The Environment Agency is doing everything possible to protect communities from the devastating effects of flooding but we can’t stop flooding altogether.

Elected Mayor for Middlesbrough, Andy Preston, said:

For those worst hit by flooding, the impact can be catastrophic, so providing the best possible protection has long been a key priority. This major project is therefore a great opportunity for Middlesbrough Council to work in partnership with the Environment Agency.

It will provide a considerable degree of security to a large number of homes, and will stand the town in good stead for the future.

Speaking on behalf of the BMMJV Partnership, Gareth Farrier, BAM Nuttall Divisional Director, added:

BMMJV are excited to be delivering this fantastic project for the Environment Agency and their partners Middlesbrough Council. This project will deliver great benefits to the local residents and surrounding area and we look forward to engaging with the community throughout the project.

We’re committed to working constructively with the community throughout this project and look forward to leaving a lasting legacy once construction is complete.

In the early planning stages of the project the Environment Agency and Middlesbrough Council worked closely with Northumbrian Water to help assess the key areas of potential flooding by looking at how the sewer system across the town interacted with other sources of flood risk.

During severe flooding the new scheme will hold flood water back in Marton West Beck and Albert Park, stopping the full force of the water from flooding properties downstream. The existing debris screen in the park will also be upgraded as part of the programme. The screen collects urban debris and rubbish that can cause flooding.

The plans for the flood scheme were created by Civil Engineering company, Mott MacDonald as part of their joint venture with BAM Nuttall.

The contractors and workers on site will be wearing the appropriate PPE and adhering to any social distancing requirements.

For further information about the Marton West Beck Flood Alleviation Scheme please contact martonwestbeck@environment-agency.gov.uk

Also to find out if you are living in a flood risk area and for information on how to sign up for flood alerts please visit the Environment Agency website

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority – including Sellafield Ltd and Magnox Ltd – has teamed up with Innovate UK to call on companies to come up with new ideas and innovative approaches to the challenge.

Robotics, sensors, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems are just some of the potential technologies which could be used for the Sort and Segregate Nuclear Waste competition.

It is open to any interested organisations – they don’t have to be from a nuclear background – to form consortia and develop a plan to address the challenge. It involves work at Sellafield and several Magnox nuclear reactor sites – the UK’s first generation of nuclear reactor.

The NDA’s Head of Innovation, Sara Huntingdon, said:

It’s been a challenging time for businesses in recent months. We hope this competition will excite organisations – inspiring them to bring forward ideas which could help transform our work in the nuclear sector.

Dealing with waste is a huge ongoing challenge for us as we progress our mission to decommission nuclear sites. We want people to be creative and help us develop new and innovative solutions. We welcome technologies from all sectors – organisations don’t have to have nuclear experience – just great ideas and a passion for turning those into a reality.

Innovate UK’s Nuclear Innovation Lead, Derek Allen, said: “We are delighted to be working with the NDA again to deliver another Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) to help drive innovation into the nuclear decommissioning supply chain.

We look forward to working with a wide range of organisations, particularly those who will be new to the sector, to deliver exciting and creative solutions. This is a great opportunity for UK organisations to grow their business and at the same time help deal with the country’s nuclear waste in a safer, faster and cheaper way.

This is the second competition to encourage integrated innovation in nuclear decommissioning. The first launched in 2017 to find solutions to help decommission highly radioactive facilities at Sellafield – 15 submissions were identified in phase one as having potential, 5 then went forward to phase two to develop their ideas further and 2 winning consortia were then chosen to turn their ideas into reality.

This latest competition opens for applications from August 17 and the closing date is November 11. After a rigorous assessment process it is likely a number of consortia will be chosen in February 2021 to carry out a 3 month feasibility study into their idea, for which they will each be awarded up to £60,000.

The best submissions will then be given up to £900,000 to go forward to the design and build phase of the project, which can last up to 15 months.

Further competition details can be found [here]

An online briefing event/webinar takes place on August 25, to register click [here]

Further details on the technical specification can be found here