Suez UK Environment Limited, a company that failed to comply with its environmental obligations and violated the conditions of its environmental permit was submitted an Enforcement Undertaking (Employment Agency) which was accepted.
An Enforcement Undertaking can be a voluntary offer by individuals or companies to make amends.
After thousands of complaints from Crookhill, Stargate, Stella, and Stargate, the Environment Agency was made aware by the Environment Agency of nuisance odours at this landfill site in 2015.
The Environment Agency conducted further investigations and found that the odours were caused by excessive landfill gas emissions. These are gases that are produced from rotting materials. Environment Agency took enforcement action and ordered Suez UK Environment Ltd. To improve its capture of landfill gas and work towards a site closure in 2017,
Area Environment Manager, Andrew Turner, said:
For several months, the site’s odours of nuisance persisted and caused great distress for those living nearby. It is a serious matter when companies fail to comply with their environmental obligations. We will take appropriate action, which could include civil sanctions.
Enforcement Undertakings are a better solution than prosecutions. They allow the offender make amends and help improve our environment. These 75,000 payments will support eight projects in the North East. They include wildlife and conservational projects, programs to reduce fly-tipping, and help local communities and organisations.
Suez UK Environment Limited’s offer detailed the closure and subsequent engineering works to install a landfill gas extraction system. The site was also covered with an impermeable membrane material. These works will reduce the possibility of the site becoming an odour nuisance.
