The Environment Agency have sent me the following update about the ongoing situation at the Finmere Landfill Facility:
I can confirm that capping of Cell 10 has now been completed. In addition to the capping, the operator has also installed 3 additional gas extraction wells within Cell 10 to aid in gas control. The Environment Agency is satisfied that the risks of pollution from fugitive emissions and odour from Cell 10 have been reduced by the works that have been completed.
Because the capping works are now complete, and the pollution risks from this cell have been reduced, the Suspension Notice relating to Cell 10 has been withdrawn. We are required to withdraw a Suspension Notice once the steps have been completed, even if this occurs outside of the specified timescales. We have notified the Planning Inspector of the withdrawal in relation to the Appeal and we will update you further on this matter once we hear back from them.
Our latest inspection on 24 May 2021 identified some localised odours within Cell 11 and we have provided the operator with advice and guidance on how to mitigate these. We have also provided feedback on the operators Environment Management Action Plan for Cell 11 to ensure that the site procedures adequately address pollution and odour risks associated with the operation of this cell.
We expect off-site odours to reduce in both severity and frequency but would remind you that given the nature of the activity on site that it is not reasonable to expect zero odour.
Should you experience an odour at levels that cause a nuisance then please continue to report these via our incident hotline on 0800 807060 as soon as possible after detection of a malodour. This allows us to target our investigation in real time making it far more likely we can establish a source and take appropriate actions to address the problem.
Please be assured that we will continue to inspect the site on a regular basis to ensure that we do not see a reoccurrence of the issues identified in Cell 10.
