Fire and waste query for Oswaldtwistle bales

And, it has now emerged that the material may be domestic waste rather than commercial non-hazardous waste as originally claimed by the company using the site.

[UPDATED: 3 August 17.30pm: the Environment Agency said today that it believed the wasteon the site”based on current assessment” is household and commercial waste – originally it described it as mixed domestic waste. Blakeley’s have re-emphasised to letsrecycle.com that the waste is not domestic waste, contrary to the Agency’s original statement, and was for recycling through a facility which it is currently developing. END OF UPDATE.]

The Environment Agency, in a new statement [August 1] on the problem material, which has caused an infestation of flies in nearby homes, has said it believes it is mixed domestic waste. Blakeleys Waste Management, the Wigan-based firm which had placed the large black polyethylene wrapped material on the site, had originally described it as commercial non-hazardous solid waste, – (see letsrecycle.com story).

Blakeleys yesterday explained to letsrecycle.com that the material was not a refuse derived fuel product and said it contained dry mixed recyclable materials most of which was for recycling later.

Complex

The fire has added to the complexity of work at the Oswaldtwistle site where Blakeleys had stored a large number of bales. A spokesman for the fire service said that an investigation was underway into the cause of the blaze and arson appeared to be the most likely cause of the fire. The site, at Nook Lane, used to house a chemical works which has since been demolished and now contains areas of concrete footings and rubble.

Now, additional handling and removal work is to get underway in conjunction with the Environment Agency to ensure that water used to put out the fire can be properly disposed of. The water has been collected behind dams set up by the fire brigade to protect a local brook.

Removal to Viridors Pilsworth landfill site in Bury of the bales unaffected by the fire will continue today for a further four weeks.

Biffa

The origin of the material has not been disclosed. Blakeleys has been promoting Greenstar now part of Biffa on its website as one of its clients. However, since Monday this week the page listing Blakeley’s clients on its website has become unavailable.

Biffa today confirmed that it uses Blakeleys and is now reviewing this arrangement. The company has not been officially linked with the Oswaldtwistle bales.

In a general statement, Biffa said: Biffa works with a number of third party companies including Blakeleys Waste Management to provide a comprehensive range of recycling and waste treatment services. In each case, Biffa conducts checks on the companies it uses to ensure they are licensed and operate within environmental legislation.

Biffa treats incidents of this nature extremely seriously and is conducting its own investigation. Biffa will review the contract with Blakeleys Waste Management based on these findings and the Environment Agencys investigation.

Dry recyclables

Blakeley’s emphasised that the material is for recycling and was not stored on a field as claimed in some local reports. Stephen Blakeley, managing director of Blakeleys Waste Management, explained to letsrecycle.com: The waste contains dry mixed recyclable materials which was to be recovered at a later stage. The waste is not stored in a field: it is stored on an industrial site on a hardstanding.

Blakeleys allocated this location for temporary storage of waste that would be sorted and removed from site within six months.

Mr Blakeley added: Most of the waste is recyclable. It includes paper, cardboard and plastic bottles.

Mixed domestic waste

The Environment Agency commented that the movement of waste is being supervised by Environment Agency officers at both the start location and at the end location. We believe that this is mixed domestic waste, however, if any non-domestic waste is found then it will be separated and disposed of appropriately.

We are continuing to carrying out a detailed and thorough investigation into the reasons why this waste has ended up at this site.

The placing and removal of the waste on the site has additional complexities in terms of an investigation, the Environment Agency has said.

This is understood to be a reference to the relationship between the landowner and the company.

Landowner

A spokesman for the landowner has indicated to letsrecycle.com that it considered it had the correct permit for the materials which it expected on the site and that discussions were continuing with Blakeleys.

However, Blakeleys have issued statements indicating disagreement with the landlord over the situation. It also alleged it was delayed in gaining access to the site to remove the bales.

Yesterday, in a statement, Blakeleys said: The first loaded vehicle left the site at 9.20am destined for Pilsworth landfill site. Unfortunately, because they have to be removed urgently, they have to go direct to landfill. Four vehicles had been loaded and left the site by 10.05am. Our pest control contractors continue to work on site spraying the bales with pesticide as they are loaded onto the vehicles.

The operation will continue through the day until approx 3pm when the last vehicle will be loaded with sufficient driving time to reach the landfill site. The work will continue at site until the bales have been removed, which we estimate to be within 4 weeks.
Blakeleys also said it would provide regular updates to local people.