The Agency issued multiple enforcement notices after heavy rainfall at the turn of the year had led to an accumulation of surface water at the site (see letsrecycle.com story ).
Odour
This resulted in odour emissions, which caused complaints from the local community, with some residents reporting experiencing symptoms such as sore throats, nausea, headaches and dizziness.
A Suez spokesman says the company has complied with the Environment Agency’s enforcement notice and improved the gas management system at the site.
He said: “All works identified by the Environment Agency for completion under the terms of its enforcement notice were completed ahead of schedule.
“We have imported more than 30,000 tonnes of soil to seal affected areas of the landfill and installed 12 additional gas wells to increase the site’s capacity to collect landfill gas.
“This has delivered the anticipated improvements and enquiries to the site about odour are significantly reduced.
“Residents were presented with an opportunity to see the scale of these works at an open day on May 21.”
Closure
The spokesperson revealed that final restoration work will take place on the site after it closes in February 2017.
Previously a working sand and gravel quarry, the Path Head landfill site has been in operation since March 2007 to accept 600,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste.
The Environment Agency has stated that it is satisfied with the work carried out by Suez to remedy the odour issues, but it is to continue monitoring the site to ensure further issues do not arise.
In a statement, the Agency said: “We have completed our assessment of the engineering works undertaken by Suez as required by the enforcement notice. We feel the works have been satisfactorily carried out and accept that Suez has complied with our enforcement notice.”
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