§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place in the Library the documents that have been used to identify the sites where Byker ash has been deposited. [155392]
§ Mr. Meacher [holding answer 23 March 2001]The Environment Agency used the following documents to identify the sites where ash from the Byker Reclamation Plant has been deposited:
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- (a) Newcastle City Council's response to the Agency's letter of 2 February 2000 seeking details of the dates, locations and quantities of ash used;
- (b) Correspondence between the Agency and the City Council clarifying details; and
- (c) Copies of the records kept by the City Council under the duty of care imposed by section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The Agency advise that they are unable to release the documents referred to in (a) and (b) because of the need to avoid prejudicing their current prosecution of the City Council and Contract Heat and Power Ltd. I am arranging for copies of (c) to be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the sites which have(a) received and (b) been cleared of Byker ash. [155378]
§ Mr. Meacher [holding answer 23 March 2001]The Environment Agency sought details from Newcastle city council of the sites which had received ash from the Byker Reclamation Plant; and these sites are listed. I have been informed that the ash has now been cleared from all of these sites. However, while the city council's records indicated that ash had been sent to the path beside Feversham School, site inspections by the Agency and the city council did not identify any ash at that site.
Paths/Bridleways
- Blayney Row, Newburn
- Coronation Road, North Walbottle
- Dinnington Recreation Ground
- Feversham School, Walbottle
- Reigh Burn and Coach Lane, Throckley
- Stamfordham road (link with North Walbottle road)
- Three Hills, Hazelrigg
- UFAMS, Newburn
- Walbottle Dene. Walbottle
- Jesmond Dene
- Welbeck road (derelicted land)
- Leightwood Avenue, Scotswood
Allotments
- Blayney Row, Newburn
- Blucher Terrace, Walbottle
- Braxton B, Walker
- Christen road, Gosforth
- Coxlodge
- Denton Bank
- Denton Dene
- Fenham Model
- Hulne Terrace, Lemmington
- Jesmond Premier/Vale
- Keeledale Pigeons, Walker
- Little Moor (off Jesmond Dene road)
- Ridgewood Crescent
- Salters Lane, S. Gosforth (off Hollywood Avenue)
- St. Michaels A, Walker
- St. Michaels B, Walker
- Union Hall road, Lemmington
- Walkergate Hospital. Walker
- Walkergate 3A (Welbeck road)
- Walkergate 3B (Spinney Terrace)
- Westmacott street. Newburn
- Whinneyfield road, Walker
- Moorside, Fenham
- Nu's Moor, Cowgate
- Tweedstreet
- Hexham Avenue, Walker
- St. Gabriels, Heaton
Farms
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- Anfield Plain
- N. E. Mason Farm and Bigg Waters, Brunswick.
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many tonnes of Refuse Derived Fuel pellets from the Byker waste plant were delivered to the Cruddas Park residential and shopping complex in Newcastle in each year between 1979 and 2000; and what investigations have been undertaken into the combustion, air emissions and ash-handling at the Cruddas Park complex. [155343]
§ Mr. Meacher [holding answer 26 March 2001]The manufacture of fuel pellets at the Byker Refuse Derived Fuel plant ceased in December 1998. I understand that approximately 1,000 tonnes per annum of refuse derived fuel, from the Byker plant, was burned at Cruddas Park between 1989 and 1996. I will write to the hon. Member with specific details as soon as more information is available.
The only investigations into the combustion, air emissions and ash-handling at the Cruddas Park complex were carried out by the operator at the commissioning stage in 1989. I understand that these records no longer exist.
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Leominster (Mr. Temple-Morris) of 1 February 2001,Official Report, column 253W, on waste disposal, if he will list the incinerators which exceeded authorised emission limits, indicating the number of times they exceeded the limits for each type of breach; and if he will list successful prosecutions by the Environment Agency in relation to these breaches. [155393]
1 January 1996 to 31 December 1998 Air HCl SO2 NOx CO Particulate matter Temperature Iodine Metals HF Dioxins Dudley MES 58 1 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 Wolverhampton MES 28 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Cleveland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Coventry 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Tyseley 90 0 23 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nottingham 13 2 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 Sheffield 7 4 7 42 2 0 0 0 0 0 Stoke MES 12 1 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 Edmonton 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lewisham, SELCHP 93 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bolton (not operating) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 302 11 34 65 16 0 0 0 0 0 Annual average1 101 4 12 22 6 — — — 0.3 — 1Data rounded up to nearest whole number except HF
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1 January 1999 to 31 December 1999 Air HCl SO2 NOx CO Particulate matter Temperature Iodine Metals HF Dioxins Dudley MES 54 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wolverhampton MES 23 13 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cleveland 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Coventry 8 0 12 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tyseley 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nottingham 6 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sheffield 17 8 6 64 1 0 0 0 0 0 Stoke MES 19 5 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
§ Mr. Meacher [holding answer 23 March 2001]The data upon which the answer was provided for my hon. Friend are presented in the following tables.
The Agency successfully prosecuted Sheffield city council, in respect of its Bernard Road municipal waste incinerator, for failure to comply with an enforcement notice served on 11 January 1999. Following a succession of breaches, the Notice required the Operator to reliably comply with the emission limits into air by 31 March 1999. The Operator was unable to reduce the number of breaches to a level acceptable to the Agency and therefore failed to comply with the Notice. The Operator was successfully prosecuted in Sheffield magistrates court on 8 December 1999. The breaches of emission limits were principally in relation to carbon monoxide although releases of nitrogen oxides and hydrogen chloride also exceeded the limits. The breaches were of short duration and unlikely to have given rise to any measurable environmental impact.
The Environment Agency initially categorises incidents in accordance with environmental impact on four levels, major, significant, minor or none. The enforcement response is driven in general by this judgment of severity. Most breaches of authorisation have minor or no impact and in these cases prosecution has only been used as a last resort where other more proportionate methods, for example serving enforcement notices have not proved successful. However, the Environment Agency appreciates that repeated minor breaches can demonstrate a lack of control and is revising its guidance accordingly. Under this guidance prosecutions will normally be pursued for minor incidents where the operator has shown a history of non-compliance sufficient to call into question the effective management of the site/operation or to prevent effective regulation by the Agency.
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1 January 1999 to 31 December 1999 Air HCl SO2 NOx CO Particulate matter Temperature Iodine Metals HF Dioxins Edmonton 7 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lewisham, SELCHP 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bolton (not operating) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 142 42 29 107 3 0 0 1 0 0
1 January 2000 to 31 December 2000 Air HCl SO2 NOx CO Particulate matter Temperature Iodine Metals HF Dioxins Dudley MES 12 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wolverhampton MES 1 1 1 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 Cleveland 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Coventry 7 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 Tyseley 5 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nottingham 7 6 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sheffield 15 3 5 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 Stoke MES 9 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Edmonton 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lewisham SELCHP 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bolton 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 60 13 27 41 5 0 0 0 0 0
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the sites which received Byker incinerator ash for use(a) in building bricks, blocks, paving stones and building materials, (b) in public and private roads and streets, (c) in compost, potting soil, growing medium and fertiliser and (d) on farms, livestock/poultry holding sites and feedstuffs companies, indicating the dates on which materials were received and the quantities involved. [155337]
§ Mr. Meacher [holding answer 26 March 2001]I have separately provided the hon. Member with a list of the sites which have received ash from the Byker Reclamation Plant (ie paths/bridleways, allotments and farms). I have been advised by the Environment Agency that it has no knowledge of ash from the Plant being used in(a); no knowledge of its use in (b) other than paths/bridleways; and no knowledge of its use in (c) other than where it has become entrained in soil on allotments at which ash has been used for path construction.
In relation to (d), the Agency understands that poultry may have been kept by the plot holders at some of the allotments at which ash was received. Ash was also received at the following farms:
N E Mason Farm, where 80 tonnes was deposited in 1996–1997; andAnfield Plain, where 30 tonnes was deposited (year not known).