Smelly Ryton landfill owner to pay £75,000 to charities
- Published
Suez UK ran Path Head landfill site neat Ryton until 2017
The operator of a smelly landfill site which blighted homes has agreed to pay £75,000 to charities to "make amends".
The Environment Agency said it received thousands of complaints about Suez UK Environment's landfill site at Path Head Quarry near Ryton, Gateshead.
The agency said it has accepted the firm's offer to give money rather than be prosecuted.
The site was closed in 2017 with works carried out, external to "reduce the risk of further odour".
The Environment Agency said it first received complaints in 2015 from communities in Ryton, Stargate, Stella and Crookhill.
Investigations found the cause of the odours was "excessive landfill gas emissions produced by rotting waste", an agency spokesman said.
'Nuisance odours'
Suez UK was ordered to take immediate action to improve its method of capturing the gas and work towards a full site closure in 2017, he added.
The firm also made an "enforcement undertaking" to give £75,000 to eight charities, which the spokesman said was a "voluntary offer to make amends for their offending".
Area environment manager Andrew Turner said: "Nuisance odours from the site persisted for a period of months and led to a great deal of distress for those affected.
"Enforcement undertakings can offer a better resolution than prosecutions, which allow the offender to put things right and help to improve our environment."
The projects receiving funding are:
•Durham Wildlife Trust's Kittiwakes Online to Tyne (£10,000)
•Durham Wildlife Trust's Linking Gateshead (£10,000)
•Gateshead Council's Blaydon Burn Project (£10,000)
•Brighten Ryton (£11,225)
•Stargate Community Hall (£11,225)
•Our Villages in Crawcrook and Greenside (£5,000)
•Northumbria Police defibrillators (£2,550)
•Path Head Water Mill (£15,000)
The landfill opened in the former sand and gravel quarry in 2007 and could accept 600,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste a year.
Suez UK has been contacted for comment.
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