§ Mr. WoolasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action he has taken to ensure the compliance with the landfill site licence in respect of noxious smells at the Highmoor Quarry site in Oldham. [67225]
§ Mr. MealeThe Environment Agency is responsible for the supervision and enforcement of waste management licences and has provided the following information about odours at Highmoor Quarry.
The licence for this site requires that
There shall be no offensive smells or other strong odours detectable outside the boundary of the site. All malodours detected shall be investigated and immediate steps taken to ameliorate the problem.The steps taken to ensure compliance with this licence condition include the Environment Agency's requiring the site operator to take measures to prevent the emission of odour. This resulted in the capping and covering of the leachate and monitoring wells and the engagement of "Entec" as consultants to carry out further investigation of odour emissions at the site. The consultants' report is due in the week beginning 25 January 1999.
The Environment Agency is also carrying out its own investigations. It has established a "footprint" of odour sources at the site and submitted air samples for analysis of the odour constituents. This will enable the Agency to monitor for identified determinants at sensitive locations. As a part of its consideration of compliance with the licence, the Agency is registering all complaints about odours from the site and plotting their locations, with the intention of linking them to meteorological conditions.