§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish the results of the survey into the incidence of landfill gas production at landfill sites undertaken by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TrippierIn December 1987 HM inspectorate of pollution asked all waste disposal authorities in England and Wales to provide details of all landfill sites producing landfill gas.
In order to update the information obtained from the first survey, HM IP issued further requests for information in August 1988 and May 1989. The responses to these have been considered by the inspectorate and their conclusions are set out in a recently published report which has been sent to all waste disposal authorities in England and Wales. Copies have also been placed in the Library of the House.
The Government allocated £33 million in 1990–91 to enable local authorities to carry out remedial works to such sites, and further resources are available in future years. So far take-up by authorities of these resources has been slow with less than £12 million expected to be spent 146W in 1990–91. I hope that the publication of this report will encourage authorities to put forward new proposals for remedial works at gassing landfill sites.