Biffa has been fined 27,000 after pleading guilty to two offences relating to persistent odour problems at its Houghton Quarry landfill site in Sunderland.
The company was also ordered to pay 8,250 in costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the case which was heard at Sunderland Magistrates Court last week (July 8).
Paul Harley, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court how Biffa had been sent a warning letter on February 28 2008 because bad odours were evident beyond the site boundary. An area of waste had not been covered and attempts had not been made to minimise the odour.
The Environment Agency said that its permit for the site states that emissions from landfill should not cause odour problems at a level that could cause a nuisance locally, unless the site operator has taken measures to prevent or minimise them.
Almost two years later, on February 7 2010, an EA officer was called to the site following complaints by a local resident and found odours were coming from some excavation works on site. Leachate was seen running from the waste and collecting on the surface.
The waste was left uncovered when the site closed at lunchtime on the Saturday, until the following Monday.
Mr Harley told the court that Biffa should have foreseen that uncovered excavated wastes would cause an odour problem and taken appropriate action. The wastes should, and could, have been covered with either a temporary membrane or a layer of soil to suppress the odour.
On March 2 2010, another environment officer visited the site and observed more waste had been excavated. Biffa Waste Services Ltd had again failed to use appropriate measures to avoid the escape of odours from the site. Residents described a pungent, gassy and strong rotting stench.
The Agency said that, following the February 7 incident, the company should have been acutely aware of the need for temporary capping on excavated wastes, or extra odour suppression units should have been used during the excavation works. The company was interviewed under caution on 10 June 2010.
Mitigation
In mitigation, the company had consulted on, and introduced an odour management plan to prevent further odour problems. It co-operated with the Environment Agency during the formal investigation of these incidents. The company also entered a guilty plea at the first opportunity
Biffa apologised to the residents, the court and the Environment Agency through their solicitor, and accepted that they had fallen short of the high standards that they set themselves. They stated that they were deeply committed to environmental work.
Speaking after the case, environment officer Gary Wallace said: We take nuisance complaints, like odour very seriously. Persistent odour can cause misery for local residents, and where efforts havent been made to minimise or stop these problems, we will always aim to prosecute.
We have been working closely with Biffa since these breaches to improve its site management, and as a result there has (sic) been improvements.
Biffa
Commenting on the ruling, Biffa said in a statement: On Friday, July 8, waste management and recycling company Biffa pleaded guilty to two counts of operating its landfill site at Houghton le Spring, Sunderland against Environmental Planning Regulations (2010) rules relating to odours (regulations 38(1)(b) and 39(1)).
Biffa is committed to operating all facilities to high standards in order to ensure the continued protection of the environment and therefore apologises for the situation which led to this prosecution.
In addition, Biffa has worked hard to rectify the situation. Throughout investigations, it co-operated fully with the Environment Agency and a new site management team has undertaken a series of engineering works. This has included the installation of further gas control pipe work and site capping work in order to prevent a re-occurrence. The company is also working closely with its regulators and hopes to liaise more closely with key stakeholders in the community to further improve relationships.
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