From next week (16 February) the company will be allowed to bring limited quantities of wood onto its site, the first time this has been allowed since a fire in June (see letsrecycle.com).
The Environment Agency served a suspension notice on the firm in July, preventing it from bringing waste onto the site. The notice required the company to make improvements to its operations to reduce the risk of the site causing serious harm to the environment or local community.
Since then, the Agency claims that Plevin has removed around 85,000 tonnes of waste from the site, as well as taking steps to reduce the risk of a fire recurring.
The Environment Agency is now allowing some wood to be brought onto the site, but the amount will be restricted until further improvements are made to the site.
Compliance
Michael Lambert, Environment Officer at the Environment Agency, said: “The Environment Agency has been working closely with Plevin’s to bring the site into environmental compliance since the fire. It was a significant incident that caused disruption to local people and posed a significant risk to the environment, but we are now satisfied that the company has done enough to reduce the risk of another fire.
“We will continue to monitor the company’s progress closely, and they will only be allowed to increase the quantities of wood brought onto the site if further improvements are made.”
The Crow Edge site at Hazlehead has been developed to supply recycled wood chip fuel for energy producer E.ONs £120 million, 30 MW biomass energy plant at Blackburn Meadows near Sheffield.
Jamie Plevin, the firm’s managing director welcomed the decision. He said: “We are pleased that the decision has been taken to reinstate the environmental permit to allow us to bring in additional waste on site as a result of the improvements that have been made.
“We will continue to work closely with the Environment Agency on further improvements and would like to thank the Environment Agency, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, customers, residents and other stakeholders for their patience and understanding during this time.”
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