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Biffa Fined Over Odour

14 July 2011

Biffa has been fined £27,000 after pleading guilty to two offences relating to persistent odour problems at its Houghton Quarry landfill site in Sunderland and £8,250 in costs to the Environment Agency

Paul Harley, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told Sunderland Magistrates Court how Biffa had been sent a warning letter on February 28 2008 about the odour emitting beyond the sites boundary. An area of waste had not been covered and attempts had not been made to minimise the odour, the court heard.

Permit for the site states that emissions from landfill should not cause odour problems at a level that could cause a nuisance locally, unless the site operator has taken measures to prevent or minimise them.

Harley told the court that Biffa should have foreseen that uncovered excavated wastes would cause an odour problem and taken appropriate action. The wastes should, and could, have been covered with either a temporary membrane or a layer of soil to suppress the odour.

The Agency said the company should have been aware of the need for temporary capping on excavated wastes, or extra odour suppression units should have been used during excavation works.

In mitigation, the company had consulted on, and introduced an odour management plan to prevent further odour problems. It co-operated with the Environment Agency during the formal investigation of these incidents. The company also entered a guilty plea at the first opportunity

Apologies

Biffa apologised to the residents, to the court and to the Environment Agency and accepted that they had fallen short of the high standards that they set themselves.

Speaking after the case, environment officer Gary Wallace said: "We take nuisance complaints, like odour very seriously. Persistent odour can cause misery for local residents, and where efforts haven't been made to minimise or stop these problems, we will always aim to prosecute.

"We have been working closely with Biffa since these breaches to improve its site management, and as a result there has been improvements."

Commenting on the ruling, Biffa said in a statement: "On Friday, July 8, waste management and recycling company Biffa pleaded guilty to two counts of operating its landfill site at Houghton le Spring, Sunderland against Environmental Planning Regulations (2010) rules relating to odours (regulations 38(1)(b) and 39(1)).

"Biffa is committed to operating all facilities to high standards in order to ensure the continued protection of the environment and therefore apologises for the situation which led to this prosecution.

"In addition, Biffa has worked hard to rectify the situation. Throughout investigations, it co-operated fully with the Environment Agency and a new site management team has undertaken a series of engineering works. This has included the installation of further gas control pipe work and site capping work in order to prevent a re-occurrence. The company is also working closely with its regulators and hopes to liaise more closely with key stakeholders in the community to further improve relationships."

For more information visit www.biffa.co.uk