Vincent Fraser QC has successfully appeared in an appeal against an Enforcement Notice served by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. The Notice concerned a site in Astley which has an Environmental Permit for inert landfill. The Notice raised concerns with respect to waste deposited in one of the cells in the landfill site and required the removal of the waste from that cell. The appeal was conducted on the basis that the steps required in the Notice were neither necessary nor proportionate in order to prevent harm to the environment and/or human health. The appeal considered the appropriate measures to take to test and characterise the waste retrospectively in situ; whether the waste could be properly categorised as inert given the nature and level of “other” waste within the deposit; leachate monitoring and testing; and the risk posed to the environment and/or human health given that the site is located on a Principal Aquifer. The Inspector concluded that the testing had been appropriate and that the waste could properly be classified as inert. The Inspector also concluded that even if the waste could not properly be classified as inert the data presented provided sufficient assurance that there would be no risk to the environment/human health arising from any leachate produced on the site. The Inspector accordingly concluded that requiring removal of the deposited waste was neither necessary nor proportionate and allowed the appeal.
For the Appeal decision, please click here.
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