Smelly Walleys Quarry handed capping enforcement notice

Outstanding work to cap the landfill must be completed by 12 December, said the Environment Agency

A landfill site operator has been ordered to complete temporary capping work before winter to reduce people's risk of exposure to noxious gas.

Walleys Quarry in north Staffordshire has been the subject of thousands of complaints over horrid smells.

The Environment Agency (EA) had given the operator until 30 September to cap part of the site with clay, but said it was not satisfied with the work.

Walleys Quarry Ltd (WQL) said temporary capping works had been completed.

"WQL can confirm that contrary to the EA notice, this temporary capping works has been completed in accordance with the capping and phasing plan, as previously agreed with the EA," a spokesperson said.

They added that the notice was "unproductive" and "unnecessary", and the EA was aware that documentation which confirmed completion of the capping works was due to be delivered in the coming days.

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The EA said its officers had made an unannounced site inspection on 2 October, during which they took issue with the extent of remedial actions.

An enforcement notice was then issued, requiring outstanding temporary capping to be completed by 12 December.

The work must be done before the onset of winter, when conditions for capping were more difficult and there was poorer air dispersion, the agency stated.

Residents neighbouring the site have for years expressed concerns that emissions of hydrogen sulphide, which produces a smell like rotten eggs, could harm their health.

In a post on social media, the Conservative MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, Aaron Bell, welcomed the EA's response, but said it was just another target date.

"I am concerned that what they have announced is just another deadline, without any tangible action against Walley's Quarry Ltd for failing to meet the first one," he wrote.

Earlier this month, the EA apologised after it emerged emission levels at the site had been under-reported.