The Environment Agency has suspended the permit for a waste recycling plant in Worksop, following a fourth serious fire at the facility in the space of a year.
Firefighters were called to the Nottinghamshire Recycling Ltd plant on Sunday (March 9), just two weeks after a third blaze engulfed part of the centre on February 23.
Some 20 firefighters and four engines were scrambled to deal with the fire, which had erupted in a different building to the one affected in February, and Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service maintained a presence on-site until yesterday (March 11) when the blaze had been successfully extinguished.
The fire service is now working with the Environment Agency and the owners of the site to establish how the blaze occurred and prevent another fire at the site in the future.
The incidents, which follow two separate fires at the site in August 2013, have been met with frustration from local residents, as well as Labour MP for Bassetlaw John Mann who this week called for the centre to be shut down.
Mr Mann said regulators should issue a three strikes and youre out rule to waste operators in the UK, and called on the Environment Agency to take action.
The Environment Agency had previously raised concerns about the risk of fire at the Shireoaks Road site, and had issued Nottinghamshire Recycling with a compliance notice following the third blaze, which it had until March 17 to observe.
Suspension
However, following the incident this week the permit for the site has now been suspended with immediate effect due to the ongoing risk of serious pollution caused by fires on the site.
In the meantime, the Environment Agency is advising customers of Nottinghamshire Recycling which offers skip hire and waste management services in the local area – to make alternative arrangements for the management and disposal of their waste.
Sharon Palmer, environment manager at the Environment Agency, said: Minimising the impacts of pollution to the local community and environment is our main priority.
The decision to suspend the Environmental Permit at this waste site shows that we will not hesitate to take enforcement action against operators who choose not to comply with their permit conditions and protect the local community.
Worksop Station manager Dick Dawson said: Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has worked closely with the Environment Agency over the last six months in relation to the fires at Nottinghamshire Recycling Ltd in Worksop, and is fully supportive of the action the Environment Agency has taken.
Fires in recycling material can impact on the environment through smoke releases, contaminated fire water running into watercourses and contamination of the land, and we understand the ongoing concern expressed by local residents and businesses.”
We will continue to support the Environment Agency in their investigations and will work closely with them, the centres owners and other local agencies to resolve the issues moving forward.
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, the directors of Nottinghamshire Recycling Ltd could not be reached for comment.
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