Walleys Quarry Landfill Site - Latest Update
Overview
As of the 1 April this website will no longer be live. We will keep all of the information here until the 30 April as we continue to migrate documents over to our new site Walleys Quarry Landfill Site | Engage Environment Agency (engagementhq.com). After 30 April the site will be taken down.
What this Citizen Space site contains
To help everyone access information in the easiest way possible, from June 2021 we have two webpages: a latest update page and a community information page
Latest Update page
This Latest Update page shares our latest updates in relation to the Walleys Quarry Landfill Site, located at Cemetery Road, Silverdale, Newcastle under Lyme.
This page contains only the most up to date information, key messages and community events about the site.
Please Note: We are working hard to ensure all reports and complaints in relation to Walleys Quarry are responded to as quickly as possible, and understand the distress felt by the local community. However, we will not tolerate inappropriate behaviour to our staff that is either threatening, abusive or violent.
Please see our Unacceptable Customer Behaviour – Position Statement which sets out what customers can expect from us. In return we ask that customers respect our staff.
You have our assurance that we are doing our best to deal with every enquiry.
Community information page
You can find our previous updates and historical information on Walleys Quarry on our Community information page here. This page provides all the background and contains our previous updates about the site, historical information and related technical documents.
Contents:
1. Latest news and weekly updates on our regulatory work
2. Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
4. How we are working with others to regulate the site
5. Air Quality Monitoring update
1. Latest news and weekly updates on our regulatory work
Weekly Update - 30 March 2023
The Environment Agency has prepared this weekly update to help the community of Newcastle-under-Lyme and the wider area keep informed about developments concerning its regulation of Walleys Quarry Landfill.
Walleys Quarry Ltd is the operator of the landfill site and it alone is responsible for the hydrogen sulphide emissions escaping from the site.
The Environment Agency is the environmental regulator. We require Walleys Quarry Ltd to meet its environmental obligations and resolve the ongoing odour issues at the landfill as quickly as possible.
News in Brief
This will be the last weekly update in this format. From next week we will be regularly updating our new website Environment Agency Engagement HQ Walleys Quarry Landfill Site with our latest news including any regulatory activity and air quality data. We will no longer be updating our Citizen Space web page.
To receive notifications of news updates to our new website please visit the latest news page to follow the project.
Regulatory Activity
We continue to actively regulate and assess Walleys Quarry Ltd’s compliance with its environmental permit by reviewing data and conducting inspections.
The extraction rate recorded at the gas utilisation plant (GUP) on 23 March 2023 was 2880m3/hr. The recorded level of hydrogen sulphide at the GUP on 22 March 2023 was 1840 ppm. These results are within the normal operational fluctuations we expect.
Facebook Group
The March Q&A session will be uploaded both to Facebook and our new website before the end of the month. We will continue to share this information on both platforms, so that non-Facebook users can access the videos. Our videos also feature subtitles, to aid accessibility.
You can join the Facebook group by clicking on the following link and accepting the rules for membership: Environment Agency - Walleys Quarry - Landfill Site | Facebook.
The next designated questions thread will open on Monday 3 April 2023 and remain open until 5pm on Thursday 7 April 2023 (due to the bank holiday). Non-Facebook users can also submit questions via email to enquiries_westmids@environment-agency.gov.uk until 5pm on Thursday 7 April 2023. Please state ‘Facebook Question’ in the subject line and make it clear whether you prefer to remain anonymous.
Please note that there may be some questions we cannot answer for legal reasons, some which may fall outside our remit as the environmental regulator and some which we may group together, if they are on a common theme.
Reporting odour
It is important that you continue to report odour to us. Reports from local people, along with our regulatory visits and monitoring from our mobile monitoring facilities help to create a picture which informs our enforcement and regulatory approach.
The easiest and quickest way to make a report is via GOV.UK at: https://report-walleys-quarry-smell.service.gov.uk. If you do report odour to us via our incident hotline, please be courteous to our staff. They are working to deal with your reports as efficiently as possible.
Latest hydrogen sulphide levels
Our Ambient Air Monitoring Team continues to check air quality around Walleys Quarry landfill. It does this through a network of mobile monitoring facilities (MMFs) that are positioned in communities around the site. These check for levels of hydrogen sulphide and methane, which are indicators of odour pollution.
The chart below contains a summary of the raw data collected from our MMFs in the period 20 March to 26 March 2023. During this period, they remained the same at MMF1, MMF2 and MMF6 and increased slightly at MMF9.
It’s important to note that there will always be short-term fluctuations in the concentrations of hydrogen sulphide leaving the site, especially given the low concentrations we are monitoring. The causes can include factors such as the impact of improvement works being carried out on site and changes in the weather.
Hydrogen sulphide concentrations continue to be greatly reduced compared with the period when monitoring began, in both the source emission and ambient air measurements. Air quality monitoring data provides additional confidence that our ongoing regulation is ensuring the source emission of hydrogen sulphide from the landfill site continues to remain low.
We are not focusing on the monitoring data in isolation and recognise that people may still detect odour from the site. We continue to compare daily odour incident reports with air quality data and source emissions monitoring, looking for trends and issues which may require challenging Walleys Quarry Ltd to further improve site operations and the capture of fugitive emissions.
Odour Reports
In the week 20 to 26 March 2023 the Environment Agency received a total of 56 odour reports from local members of the public. This is a decrease from the number received last week. The highest number of odour reports was on Saturday 19 March 2023, when we received 16 reports.
Correspondence
Other than by means of the Facebook Group mentioned above, we are unable to answer questions through social media. If you have a question, you can email us.
Other sources of information
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council: https://www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/walleys-quarry
Staffordshire County Council: https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Care-for-all-ages/Publichealth/Walleys-Quarry/Walleys-Quarry.aspx
Walleys Quarry Ltd website: https://walleysquarry.co.uk
Previous news
2. Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
We understand that you may have questions regarding landfills and how they work as well as more specific questions concerning this site.
We have put together a document that includes FAQs from your community concerning Walleys Quarry and generic landfill information that covers a wider range of questions from odour to pests. We hope this will be able to reassure and answer any questions that you may have about the site. The document can be viewed here.
To complement the FAQs we are sharing the top questions that you have asked us formally as well as our timeline and plan.
Timeline and our plan
The timeline shows the site’s history and our regulation so that you can understand our actions to date. You can view the timeline here.
The Environment Agency’s plan to achieve the required reductions in H2S emissions is available to view here.
Top questions
Question One: Why was our community representative not invited to the Walleys Liaison Committee meeting with Walleys Quarry Ltd?
Walleys Quarry Ltd is responsible for organising these liaison meetings, including the attendance list.
If you have questions about Walleys Liaison Committee meetings, you can contact Walleys Quarry Ltd with your enquiry at:
https://walleysquarry.co.uk/#contact
Minutes from previous meetings can be found on the Walleys Quarry Ltd website at:
https://walleysquarry.co.uk/#information
Question Two: I am concerned that my area is not recognised in your monitoring reports. Please can you explain why?
Our monthly Air Quality Monitoring Reports provide residents with updates on the data collected by our Mobile Monitoring Facilities (MMFs) at fixed locations around the Walleys Quarry Landfill Site. The location of the monitoring equipment adjacent to a permitted site is always a balance of a number of practical and technical factors. These include predominant wind direction, topography, permission to use land, power supplies, other sources of pollutants, security, mobile phone signal, and the number of complaints. However, this does not mean that we do not carry out odour assessments in other locations in the area.
The Environment Agency takes all reports we receive very seriously. Please be assured that each odour report submitted by the residents of Newcastle-Under-Lyme is recorded and taken into consideration. The Environment Agency’s priority remains ensuring that the operator, Walleys Quarry Ltd, takes effective action to secure sustained reduction in hydrogen sulphide emissions from its site. We are determined to tackle the problems at Walleys Quarry, as we have been throughout.
Question Three: What are you doing about heavy goods vehicles parked illegally on the brow of the hill near to Walleys Quarry?
Parking and vehicle movements outside the site boundary are not controlled by the environmental permit issued by the Environment Agency.
You may wish to consult the Staffordshire County Council website here: https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Highways/Parking-and-enforcement/On-Street-Parking/Problem-parking/Report-problem-parking/Report-problem-parking.aspx
You can find more information on the County Council’s role at Walleys Quarry by visiting:
https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Care-for-all-ages/Publichealth/Walleys-Quarry/Walleys-Quarry.aspx
Question Four: Why is gas still escaping from the site and causing an odour nuisance now that all the wells have been installed?
We do expect to see short term fluctuations in the concentrations of hydrogen sulphide leaving the site. The causes can include factors such as the temporary impact of improvement works being carried out on site and changes in the weather.
Odours associated with landfill gas emissions will increase during colder weather and still wind conditions. With less dispersion, the potential for causing odour nuisance is greater. This means improvements from measures implemented at Walleys Quarry Landfill to reduce odour could be less noticeable around this time of year.
The measures put in place to resolve the odour issue are being carried out in accordance with the programme set out in the published plan. These measures are designed to secure the effective resolution of the problem as soon as reasonably possible. It is not possible to precisely predict the effect that each individual step we have required Walleys Quarry Ltd to take will have.
Over the first two weeks of January, spikes in hydrogen sulphide levels were identified around the site. This led to an increase in odour complaints from the public. We believe that we have identified the contributing factors for the increased odour during this period and have informed Walleys Quarry Ltd of our findings. The company has 28 days from notification to challenge these. We are unable to provide any further information before this period expires.
Since mid-January, we have continued to see a reduction in hydrogen sulphide levels at each of the MMFs around the site.
If after referring to this page and the documents you would still like to ask a question please attend one of our community engagement events or email us Enquiries_Westmids@environment-agency.gov.uk to let us know.
3.Community engagement
We continue to hold a variety of community engagement events to ensure you understand what action we are taking and to have an opportunity to ask questions.
For information on engagement by multi agency partners please see Section 4 of this page.
Facebook Sessions
Now that our facebook page is up and running, we will be holding Q&A sessions each month. You can view the transcripts below.
The first Q&A session was held on 25 May 2022 with West Midlands' Marc Lidderth and Clare Dinnis.
Unfortunately we had to postpone the June 2022 Q&A session due to illness. In order to respond to your questions as quickly as possible we have recorded 3 shorter Q&A sessions, part 1 with West Midlands’ Mike Jenkins, parts 2 and 3 with Marc Lidderth.
29 June 2022 part 1 transcript
29 June 2022 part 2 transcript
29 June 2022 part 3 transcript
The third Q&A session was held on 27 July 2022 with West Midlands’ Marc Lidderth and Mike Jenkins.
21 December 2022 transcript - MMF data video
Recent community engagement
We’ve recently been out in the Knutton and Poolfields areas door knocking to talk to local people about our regulation of Walleys Quarry and to hear about and understand the impact of the landfill on daily lives.
We’re knocking doors randomly and are not purposely picking some and avoiding others. If the resident is out, we’ll pop a note through the letterbox to say we called. We will not ask to come in at any point, and it’s ok to not want to talk to us. We will be out in other areas in the coming weeks.
Future community engagement
We continue to work with multi-agency partners to plan the next steps for more community engagement, including further drop in events to ensure you understand what action we are taking and to have an opportunity to ask questions.
Dates and details will be announced on this page and released in the latest update. Future sessions will be dependent on COVID restrictions and guidance at the time.
Previous community engagement
Drop-in session in December 2021
Our multi-agency drop in session took place on Thursday 1 December at the council offices in Newcastle Under Lyme. Some local residents who have been impacted by the landfill site turned out to speak to us – many thanks to those who attended for your comments and feedback.
This event was for residents, business owners and community members who are affected by the landfill site. Attendees could speak directly to senior officers from the Environment Agency, Staffordshire County Council, the UK Health Security Agency (formerly Public Health England), Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Staffordshire Police.
There were no fixed presentation or speeches, and attendees could drop-in at any time during the opening hours and speak directly to representatives of the councils and agencies at different tables. Numbers in the hall were monitored to avoid over-crowding and other Covid-related measures were in place to ensure the health and well-being of all those attending.
Multi-agency partners face to face drop ins
We were really pleased to see lots of you at the multi-agency events on 5 October 2021 and 12 October 2021.
All organisations valued the opportunity to have face to face conversations, to be able to hear from you, the concerns and experiences you have had and for us to be able to explain what we are continuing to do in dealing with this situation.
Multi-agency virtual engagement sessions
The multi-agency virtual engagement sessions held on 23 June 2021 and 3 August 2021 were with representatives from the Environment Agency, Public Health England (now UK Health Security Agency), Staffordshire County Council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and the North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (who represent GPs in the area).
Community engagement session - 3 August 2021
Community engagement session - 23 June 2021
Environment Agency virtual engagement sessions
Our virtual meetings were an opportunity for the community to hear an update on Environment Agency actions and next steps first hand as well as having the opportunity to ask us questions which might include our regulation, the work we have told Walleys Quarry Ltd to carry out, etc.
Community engagement session - 9 June 2021
Community engagement session - 26 May 2021
4. How we are working with others to regulating the site
A report by Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser’s Office (CSAO) on Walleys Quarry Landfill odorous emissions has been published and can be found at: Science Search (defra.gov.uk)
We welcome the Report compiled by Defra’s CSAO. The good progress made on mitigating the concentration of hydrogen sulphide noted in the report has continued through 2022. The concentration of hydrogen sulphide in the gas management system has reduced further to around 1200ppm in Autumn 2022. All four monitoring facilities around the site have shown a monthly average concentration of hydrogen sulphide at or below the long-term health-based guidance value since May 2022. Many of the report’s recommendations are consistent with measures we have required Walleys Quarry to implement, as set out in our Plan to reduce hydrogen sulphide emissions. We will consider the report fully and if necessary review and revise the Plan in the future.
Multi agency response
Over a number of years, we have been working with partners to address local community concerns about Walleys Quarry Landfill. We have put in place and are supporting a multi-agency response to deal with the current odour issues. This includes working with the Local Resilience Forum that also help coordinate regulatory, engagement and communication responses. This ensures different issues are tackled in coordinated way across multiple partners, each with different responsibilities. They include:
- The Environment Agency
- Staffordshire County Council
- Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
- UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA - formerly Public Health England)
Engagement by multi agency partners
For media statements and community engagement events held by multi agency partners please see information and links below:
Tuesday 6 July from 5.30pm to 7.00pm
The Strategic Coordinating Group (SCG) of Staffordshire Resilience Forum agencies will be holding a virtual community engagement event on Tuesday 6 July from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. Representatives from the Environment Agency, Public Health England (now UKHSA), the NHS, and officers from Staffordshire County Council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council will be taking part. An update on the situation, the impact on health, and progress on actions being taken to reduce the air pollution will be given, followed by an opportunity for people to ask questions. People can log on at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8137051666089376524
Walleys Quarry Liaison Meetings
We also attend regular community liaison meetings that are facilitated by the operator Walleys Quarry Ltd. and are part of their planning permission issued by Staffordshire County Council.
More Information
More Information
Further information
If you would like to find out more about these meetings including the meeting notes please visit the Walleys Quarry webpage.
If any further residents are interested in joining these meetings to represent the community or would like to ask Walleys Quarry Ltd any questions please email: enquiries@redindustries.co.uk
5. Air Quality Monitoring
Picture 1: Galingale View- Air Quality monitoring specialist mobile monitoring
We are committed to regularly sharing the results from our air quality monitoring that we have underway around the site. In March 2021, we installed two specialist mobile monitoring facilities (MMFs), located at Galingale View and Silverdale Pumping Station. We also agreed with partners to install a further two, to support our multi-agency response to the issues at Walley’s Landfill. In April 2021, we installed these just off Cemetery Road and on Galingale View.
The mobile monitoring facilities are purposely placed in areas where we observe odour, taking account of local geography, and available power supplies. They are funded by the Environment Agency to support our regulatory work but as they can also be used to provide information to health professionals to make health assessments, two are partly funded by Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council. The mobile monitoring facilities began collecting data at the beginning of March 2021 and we expect to continue till March 2022 or further if required.
Monitoring and data
The units monitor particulates (PM), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (known as BTEX), methane (CH4) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) -these last two are surrogates for odour pollution. The units also have the capacity to collect weather data, which is important in determining how gases travel and disperse in the environment. The data has been used to support our regulatory actions and assess the type, time and nature of the emissions from the site. We also shared this information with Staffordshire County Council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council to support their regulatory work. The data can also be used to provide public health information, so we share the data with UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) who generate monthly public health risk assessment which provide expert opinion on any human health impacts.
It is important to note that they do not exclusively monitor the emissions from the landfill site. Instead they monitor all the ambient air around the landfill site which can will include emissions from other sources as well.
Air quality monitoring reports
We provide various reports and sets of data that is publicly available and we want to clearly explain how and when these will be produced.
Weekly Report on Hydrogen Sulphide Concentrations in Ambient Air
Our Ambient Air Monitoring Team continues to monitor the ambient air quality around Walley’s Quarry Landfill Site. It does this through a network of mobile monitoring stations (MMFs) that are positioned in communities around the site. These check for levels of hydrogen sulphide and methane, which are surrogates to measure odour nuisance. The latest news section above includes a chart with a summary of the latest (weekly) raw data collected from our ambient air mobile monitoring facilities (MMFs).
It is important to note that there will be short term fluctuations in the concentrations of hydrogen sulphide leaving the site. The causes can include factors such as the impact of improvement works being carried out on site and changes in the weather. Concentrations of landfill gas emissions generally increase during colder weather and still wind conditions. With less ability for the landfill gas emissions to disperse, there is a greater potential for these emissions to cause an odour nuisance on the local community.
By contrast, in warmer weather the gases are naturally more diluted due to higher temperatures and rising air. This means improvements from measures implemented at Walleys Quarry Landfill to reduce odour could be less noticeable around this time of year. However, it is important to note that despite short term spikes, the overall trend in the levels of hydrogen sulphide concentrations in the ambient air continues to reduce.
Monthly Air Quality Reports
We produce a Monthly Air Quality Report which provides information on the data recorded. This is also published on these webpages along with the UKHSA report: UKHSA Health Risk Assessment Air Quality Monitoring.
February 2023
EA Air Quality Report - February 2023
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - February 2023
January 2023
EA Air Quality Report - January 2023
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - January 2023
December 2022
EA Air Quality Report - December 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - December 2022
November 2022
EA Air Quality Report - November 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - November 2022
October 2022
EA Air Quality Report - October 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - October 2022
September 2022
EA Air Quality Report - September 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - September 2022
August 2022
EA Air Quality Report - August 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - August 2022
July 2022
EA Air Quality Report - July 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - July 2022
June 2022
EA Air Quality Report - June 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment – June 2022
May 2022
EA Air Quality Report - May 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - May 2022
April 2022
EA Air Quality Report - April 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - April 2022
March 2022
EA Air Quality Report - March 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - March 2022
February 2022
EA Air Quality Report - February 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - February 2022
January 2022
EA Air Quality Report - January 2022
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - January 2022
December 2021
EA Air Quality Report - December 2021
UKHSA Health Risk Assessment - December 2021
November 2021
EA Air Quality Report - November 2021
UKHSA (formerly PHE) Health Risk Assessment - November 2021
October 2021
EA Air Quality Report - October 2021
UKHSA (formerly PHE) Health Risk Assessment - October 2021
September 2021
EA Air Quality Report - September 2021
UKHSA (formerly PHE) Health Risk Assessment - September 2021
August 2021
EA Air Quality Report - August 2021
UKHSA (formerly PHE) Health Risk Assessment - August 2021
July 2021
EA Air Quality Report - July 2021
PHE Health Risk Assessment - July 2021
June 2021
EA Air Quality Report - June 2021
PHE Health Risk Assessment - June 2021
May 2021
EA Air Quality Report - May 2021
PHE Health Risk Assessment - May 2021
April 2021
EA Air Quality Report - April 2021
PHE Health Risk Assessment - April 2021
Environment Agency Monthly Air Quality Data
The Environment Agency conducts all its monitoring and data handling using approved standards and methodologies and is externally audited. As a result, the data we use in our reports is called ‘rectified data’. This is data that has had calibrations applied and some basic quality assurance checking carried out but it is still likely to change once calibrations are applied to the full data set at the end of the study. This is a standard approach that needs to be taken when conducting highly sensitive air quality monitoring. You can download the latest rectified data using the links below. Please note these are large data files which may take some time to download.
EA Monthly Rectified Air Quality Data (updated each month with the latest data we have collected)
Environment Agency Interim Air Quality Reports
We normally provide detailed assessment of the data we collect at the end of each study in what we call a Final Report. As the monitoring at this location is continuing for some time we have carried out a detailed assessment of the data and published an Interim Report. We expect to publish further Interim Reports as the monitoring continues and they will be available in the table below.
Interim Reports
We have produced a report looking at the air quality data that we have collected at the four mobile monitoring facilities (MMF’s) that are deployed in Silverdale. The report identifies the local sources of hydrogen sulphide and quantifies the environmental impact of the emissions from these sources on the surrounding area and the local community. A copy of the report is available at the hyperlink above.
We have now produced a second interim report looking at the air quality data that we have collected at the four mobile monitoring facilities (MMF’s) that are deployed in Silverdale. This second report looks at all the data available between March 2021 through to May 2022. A copy of the report is available at the hyperlink above.
Environment Agency Task Specific Analysis Interim Air Quality Reports
We are also using the data to identify trends, correlate the data with weather patterns, look at the time and day of increases (and decreases), weather analysis and if certain activities on the site or in the local area, contribute to the issues. This is ongoing internal work and used to inform our regulatory activities. This work will be included in our Final Report if appropriate. These reports are available below.
Comparisons of Ambient Air Quality Data at MMF9 Galingale View, Silverdale
This report provides comparisons of ambient air quality data at MMF9 Galingale View, Silverdale between the 6 March 2021 – 30 April 2021 and 6 March 2022 – 30 April 2022.
Environment Agency Air Quality Exceedance Reports
If the levels of hydrogen sulphide exceed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guideline level for health impacts (this is recorded over a 24hr average) we will inform all partners immediately and produce report within 48hrs. Public Health England will be immediately informed so advice can be issued from our public health partners Staffordshire County Council. We call this an Exceedance Report. Exceedance Reports are published below.
Monthly Air Quality Monitoring Report - March Monitoring Period (4 March – 31 March 21)
The reported pollutants are hydrogen sulphide (H2S), methane (CH4), oxides of nitrogen (NOX, NO, NO2) and a number of different particulate matter size fractions (Total Suspended Particulate (TSP), PM10 and PM2.5). The H2S data is compared against the WHO guideline values for both odour annoyance and health. The particulate data and the NOX data will eventually be compared against the objectives of the UK Air Quality Strategy (AQS), but as these are annual standards the current data set is too small for such a comparison to be made at the moment.
Note the format of this document was eventually adopted for use in the Monthly Environment Agency Air Quality Reports
Environment Agency Final Report
At some point (to be determined by partners and what is happening at the landfill), we will produce a Final Report which will provide a detailed assessment. This will be made available below when available
Previous Final Reports
We have previously installed specialist air quality monitoring equipment in 2018 and 2019 to enable us to further understand the potential impact on air quality from Walley’s Quarry landfill site.
Study of Ambient Air Quality at Silverdale Road 6 July 2017 to 14 February 2018
Comparison of the particulate data from the monitoring at Silverdale with the Air Quality Strategy objectives showed that the monitoring location was subject to concentrations that would meet their respective AQS objectives. The hydrogen sulphide data was compared with its World Health Organisation guidelines and was found to be within the specified health limits. Comparison of the data with the guideline for odour annoyance indicated that there were 34 instances during the monitoring period, on 11 separate days where the 30-minute average hydrogen sulphide concentration was greater than 7μg/m3. These results suggest that complaints due to odour nuisance from hydrogen sulphide could be expected for less than 1% of the monitoring period.
Study of Ambient Air Quality at Silverdale 15 January 2019 and 25 June 2019
Comparison of the particulate, nitrogen dioxide and benzene data from the monitoring at Silverdale with the Air Quality Strategy objectives showed that the monitoring location was subject to concentrations that would be expected to meet their respective AQS objectives. Toluene, ethylbenzene and m&p-xylenes were found to be below their respective Environmental Assessment Levels.
The hydrogen sulphide and toluene data were compared with their respective World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. Toluene was found to be below the specified health and odour levels. Comparison of the hydrogen sulphide data between the 15 January 2019 and 12 February 2019 (28 days) with the WHO guidelines showed that concentrations were below health guidelines but exceeded odour guidelines for 6% of the shorter monitoring period.
Comparison of the hydrogen sulphide data between the 28 February 2019 and 25 June 2019 (118 days) with the WHO guidelines showed that concentrations were below health guidelines but exceeded odour guidelines for 1% of the monitoring period. Consideration of the directional sources of hydrogen sulphide and methane suggested that the highest contributing sources were seen from the direction of the landfill site, alongside lower contributing sources. Consideration of the directional sources of oxides of nitrogen suggested that the highest contributing sources were seen from the direction of the landfill site from the gas management compound, alongside lower contributing sources.
Previous Air Quality Monitoring (2017-19)
We have previously installed specialist air quality monitoring equipment in 2018 and 2019 to enable us to further understand the potential impact on air quality from Walleys Quarry landfill site.
This equipment was installed on:
6 July 2017 - 14 February 2018 on the pumping station off Silverdale Road
15 January 2019 - 25 June 2019 near the northern boundary of the site, on the grounds of Garner’s Garden Centre.
Summaries of the previous air quality monitoring reports are available to view below and full reports can be provided on request.
Walleys quarry report summary 2019
Walleys quarry report summary 2017-2018
The Public Health England (PHE) response to the Air Quality Monitoring carried out in 2017-2019 is linked here.
6. Health update
It is important to note, that it is not our role and we are not qualified to give health advice to the public. If residents have health concerns our advice is to speak to their local GP. The local authority’s Environmental Health Department and Public Health England will be able to provide appropriate advice to local GP’s. Both organisations are represented on the Walley’s Quarry local liaison group.
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More Information (incl PHE's review of AQM data)
7. How to contact us
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Audiences
- Businesses
- Members of the public
- Elected representatives, including MPs
- Local councils
- Environment Agency customers
- Environment Agency colleagues
Interests
- Business and industry
- Waste
- Permits
- Environmental permitting
- Installation
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