Grange Landfill Site, Rotherham (Dropping Well Tip) -Information Page

Overview

Welcome to the Grange Landfill Information Page.

This page provides access to information on the permit variation for Grange Landfill and the Environment Agency role in permit regulation.

We will keep this page updated as the situation progresses so please keep checking back for what’s new.  You can view our latest frequently asked questions (FAQs) or download a copy at the end of this page.

Coronavirus: The Environment Agency response

More Information

Please continue to report any new, recurring or worsening pollution on our free incident hotline:

Unfortunately, we cannot attend every report we receive, we must prioritise the deployment of our resources to ensure we are able to respond to the incidents which pose the greatest risk to the environment. 

We take all reports of environmental pollution seriously and your reports provide us with useful information and, combined with other data and information we hold, will help us to build a picture of any environmental threat the site may pose.

Background

The Environment Agency role in regulating Waste sites

Modern environmental permits for the deposit of waste take account of existing and new legislative requirements and require site operators to do much more to safeguard people and the environment than would have been required in the past. This includes for example:

• Environmental monitoring (pollution control)
• Site infrastructure (appropriate lining)
• Strict procedures (waste acceptance)

We regulate the waste industry by issuing permits which impose strict conditions on the operation of the activity. Our specialist technical staff use their expertise and understanding of the potential environmental risks that these industries may have, to assess permit applications (and variations) thoroughly to make sure that they protect people and the environment.

We do not permit any operation that we know would cause harm to the environment or people’s health when operated in accordance with permit conditions.  

We regulate permitted waste activities using a risk based approach which prioritises those sites that have a greater potential to cause harm. Those which pose greater risk are subject to more stringent permit conditions, and targeted regulatory intervention which includes inspection of activities on the site, audits of agreed procedures and analysis of data submitted by the Operator.

Environmental permit for Grange Landfill

The permit variation for Grange Landfill Site, granted in March 2016, imposed a range of conditions that must be complied with, before any deposit of waste will be allowed. These include groundwater and landfill gas monitoring requirements, the construction of engineered bunds and a system to collect and treat surface water.

The new permit only allows the deposit of ‘inert’ waste. Inert waste is "waste that does not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological transformation" for example soil and stone. Inert waste will not dissolve, burn or otherwise physically or chemically react, biodegrade or adversely affect other matter with which it comes into contact in a way likely to give rise to environmental pollution or harm human health.

The site is to be operated in accordance with the permit conditions as well as an Environmental Management System which details how the operator will abide by the permit conditions.

The existing landfilled area will not be re-opened or filled.

A copy of the permit variation is available to download below:
DB3803MN - Grange landfill variation

How will the Site be regulated?

The activities on site will be regulated by the Environment Agency in a number of ways:

Inspection - where an officer visits the site. Inspections are usually planned but can be unannounced. Environment Agency staff undertake a compliance visit, which is an assessment of the activities being undertaken on site in line with the environmental permit.

Compliance Assessment - The Environment Agency undertake compliance assessments which are desk-based reviews of whether the site is complying with permit requirements, for example reviewing submitted environmental monitoring data and waste returns data.

 The Environment Agency may take action if they suspect that a breach of permit conditions has occurred. Our actions might include:

• giving advice and guidance,
• amend permit conditions,
• serving an enforcement notice, which will state what have to be done to bring activities back into compliance and by when,
• serving a suspension notice if there’s a risk of pollution,
• prosecuting if we believe it’s in the public interest.

Site inspections - Like many organisations, we have to prioritise everything we do and ensure we make the right choices about where and how to work. We need to be flexible in our regulatory approach to ensure that focus is placed on those sites that pose the greatest risk to the environment.

Grange Landfill is considered a low risk site, as it is an inert landfill and not yet operational.  However, as first agreed with RMBC in 2019, and in recognition of local concerns it is our intention to maintain site inspections on a quarterly basis until further notice.

It is important to be aware that there are a number of other regulatory activities that the Environment Agency undertakes for each site in addition to our site inspections. The annual subsistence charges paid by permit holders are based on the cost to the Environment Agency of providing an effective level of regulation of those activities. Consequently, our regulatory activities need to be consistent with the charges received from permit holders and should reflect the site’s performance.

Following a site inspection, we will produce a Compliance Assessment Report (CAR) form which records our findings and any actions we have asked the Operator to undertake. We will maintain a list of our site visits below with a link to the CAR form for that visit.

What happens next?

When all the necessary engineering works to comply with the permit conditions are complete, the operator will submit a validation report to the Environment Agency.  If we are satisfied that all conditions have been met to the required standard, the Operator will be given permission to operate the landfill site. 

The necessary engineering works for the first waste cell on Grange Landfill are now almost complete. Once complete, the operator must submit a validation report to us and we will have 28 days to review the report.  We will then make our decision on whether to approve the report and so enable waste tipping to commence, or to reject it pending further works.

When the site becomes operational we will continue to carry out a minimum of four site inspections per year. We will, however, target our inspections at the early stages of operation so that we can review the activities and appropriate measures on site; and audit the waste being accepted to ensure compliance with the permit.