§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department takes to ensure that safety regulations for employees of operators at landfill and hazardous waste sites are adhered to. [122726]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 30 June 2003]: The Environment Agency does not regulate health and safety at work. The appropriate regulator is the Health and Safety Executive and its sponsor is the Department for Work and Pensions.
§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department takes to ensure that the activities conducted by operators at landfill and hazardous waste sites do not pose any risk to public health. [122727]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 30 June 2003]: The Environment Agency regulates activities conducted by operators at landfill and hazardous waste sites to minimise the damage to the environment and risk to human health.
Permit applications include site-specific risk assessments, which are reviewed by the Agency as part of the permitting process. On-site activities are then considered as part of routine site inspections to ensure compliance with the relevant permit.
§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department takes to ensure that waste deposited at a landfill and hazardous waste site does not pose any risk to local water supplies. [122728]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 30 June 2003]: The Environment Agency regulates landfills and hazardous waste sites to minimise the damage 10 the environment and risk to human health.
The Agency assesses permit applications, which would include a site-specific risk assessment to provide for this requirement. Where appropriate, the application will include an assessment of the risk to local water supplies and detail the protection measures proposed to manage the risk to an acceptable level. The protection measures are subsequently assessed during routine site inspections and monitoring by Agency staff.