Environment Agency issues closure notice for landfill at heart of long-running odours dispute

A landfill site that is the subject of a legal challenge from Newcastle Under Lyme Council for emitting odorous gasses has been hit with a closure order from the Environment Agency.

The operator, Walleys Quarry Ltd, has said it plans to use "all available options" to challenge the closure notice.

The move comes amid efforts by the local authority to launch litigation against the operator and after complaints from the council that the Environment Agency was not doing enough in its role as a regulator.

The council this month agreed to increase its legal fund for its dispute against the operator to £1m.

According to the council, the Staffordshire landfill has been the subject of thousands of complaints from locals about foul odours.

It has also been issued with 109 regulatory breaches since 2019, according to a council report published in September.

The Environment Agency said its closure notice was issued after "exhausting other enforcement options".

Under the notice, the operator is required to stop accepting new waste from Friday 29 November and to permanently cap the remainder of the site and install further landfill gas management infrastructure.

The notice starts the process of permanently closing the site after the company failed to put effective measures in place to manage emissions, the agency added.

Ian Jones, Environment Agency West Midlands Area Director, said: "We have every sympathy with the local community and have worked tirelessly to resolve the problem of landfill gas emissions from the site.

"In doing so, we have taken a robust approach to regulating Walleys Quarry Ltd. Our aim has always been to bring the operator into compliance with its permit and the decision to issue a Closure Notice is not one we take lightly."

However, the landfill operator has said it will challenge the decision "using all available options".

A spokesperson for Walleys Quarry said: "We have received a closure notice from the Environment Agency.  We are clear that keeping the site open delivers greatest benefit and sustainability for the site. 

"We will challenge this decision using all available options.

"Walleys Quarry have made extensive factual and legal submissions to the Environment Agency which in our view they have not substantively engaged with."

The statement added: "As a business we completely reject the accusations made by the Environment Agency relating to poor management of the landfill site."

Commenting on how the news affects the council's legal action against the operator, the leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Simon Tagg, said: "We remain committed to doing all we can to help residents within our powers and will take account of this evolving situation."

Tagg added: "The Environment Agency is the main regulator for this site and for far too long this authority has been urging it to act on behalf of a community under siege.

"Complaints to the council about the foul gas odours have soared this year, already more than double the whole of 2023, and I hope that this action by the EA is the first step to a permanent solution for our residents."

Adam Carey