Skip to content

Walleys Quarry: Environment Agency sets out landfill site plan

BBC Walleys Quarry landfill siteBBC
The High Court said "real and significant change" was required as a matter of urgency

The Environment Agency has set out a plan to reduce harmful gas emissions and strong odours from a landfill site.

It follows a ruling by the High Court it must do more to cut levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas from Walleys Quarry, in Staffordshire.

The agency promised more wells, better modelling and a review of the amount of capping on the site among its targets.

People in Silverdale have long demanded more action over noxious emissions, which experts say are harming health.

The agency said it would "rigorously require" operator Walleys Quarry Ltd to resolve the issue.

In September, the High Court ruled in favour of a mother of a child with breathing difficulties who claimed the Environment Agency had not done enough to regulate emissions from the site.

Rebecca Currie argued the H2S gas had worsened her son's underlying health issues.

The court ruled the agency must ensure off-site odours are reduced and that daily H2S levels are cut to a safe level by January 2022, to meet standards set out by authorities in the United States and by Public Health England.

PA Media Rebecca Currie and her son Mathew RichardsPA Media
Mathew Richards, who lives about half a mile from Walleys Quarry, was born with chronic lung disease

Saying it had "re-evaluated its regulatory approach" as a result of the ruling, the Environment Agency said it had come up with a list of 10 extra measures, on top of those already taken.

They include a pledge to work with the operator to review the amount of capping on the site and to look at the effectiveness of the capping carried out to date.

It also said it would also push for 17 more gas-collection wells "as a matter of urgency".

And it promised improved modelling and monitoring of the gases.

Clare Dinnis, the agency's area director, said: "We can see that the measures we've required Walleys Quarry Ltd to take are working, with monitoring showing falling levels of hydrogen sulphide escaping from the site."

But she added: "Whilst this is good news, there is more work to be done to reduce these levels further and keep them low in the long term."

Presentational grey line

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]