Waste management firm fined for permit
breaches
Environmental update 29/07/2011
A Northallerton-based waste management company has been fined
following breaches of its permit conditions.
Yorwaste Limited, which operates Skibden Quarry landfill near
Skipton, has permission to receive non-hazardous landfill waste
from households, businesses and industry.
The landfill site is regulated through an Environment Agency (EA)
environmental permit and, during a routine inspection by the EA,
was found to be in breach of the permit conditions.
EA inspectors discovered that the levels of leachate – a liquid
that comes from degrading waste – were higher than permitted by the
permit.
The levels were meant to be no more than one metre deep in any of
the landfill site cells, but were recorded at 7.8 metres on a
certain day. High levels of leachate can pollute groundwater if not
kept under control.
The firm was asked to lower the levels of leachate, and did so, but
three further breaches were discovered at later dates. As a result,
the firm was fined £20,000 for breaching its permit conditions, and
ordered to pay costs of £2,500 to the Environment Agency and a £15
victim surcharge at Skipton Magistrates Court.
Environment Agency officer, John Crowl, said, “Leachate levels are
a crucial part of the management of a landfill site. The greater
the leachate levels, the higher the potential for pollution to seep
out of the bottom of the landfill.
“We’re pleased the court has recognised that the breaches of the
leachate levels were serious,” he added.