Cllr Liz Kitchen, WSCC. Adam Dracott, HDC Environmental Health. Mark Emery, Environment Agency. Sam Dumbrell, WSCC Planning.

Transcription

1 Biffa Brookhurst Wood Local Liaison Group Meeting: 27th April 2016 at Biffa West Sussex Ltd Offices Attending: Peter Gooch Independent Chair Brett McGuin Biffa West Sussex Ltd, Community Liaison (Minutes) Andy Burgess Biffa West Sussex Ltd, General Manager - MBT Lee Coulson Biffa Waste Services Ltd, Landfill Manager James Stewart-Irvine Biffa Waste Services Ltd, Planning Manager - South Duncan Wright Biffa Waste Services Ltd, Landfill Area manager - South Graham Harris WSCC Waste Andy Thorne WSCC Waste Paul Bellringer Local resident (Horsham in Bloom) Cllr David Searle North Horsham Parish Council Steve Lipscombe Local resident Geoff Read Warnham Parish Council Brian Johnson Langhurst Wood Road residents group Debbie Wiltshire Facilities & engineering coordinator Eileen Lawes Local resident, LHWR north Brian Johnson Resident; Langhurst wood road residents group Roland Knight Local Resident Apologies: Cllr Liz Kitchen, WSCC. Adam Dracott, HDC Environmental Health. Mark Emery, Environment Agency. Sam Dumbrell, WSCC Planning. Absent: Action points are noted in bold Item 1. INTRODUCTIONS All attending introduced themselves. 2. APOLOGIES / SUBSTITUTIONS Debbie Wiltshire attended as a replacement for Jeff Nixon, as a representative of Fishers Clinical Services Ltd. P.G discussed with Adam Dracott prior to the meeting regarding his lack of attendance. A.D advised it may be more beneficial to the group to have someone from the waste department of HDC attend rather than environmental health. It was agreed by the group that HDC should be represented, and that information should be fed back to the relevant department of HDC from the liaison group. This could be from environmental health or the waste department.

2 Mr. Penfold (Waste manager at Horsham District Council) called P.G back to discuss the actions raised at the previous meeting. It was explained that Britannia crest now have a two year permission to store waste vehicles on their premises. The HDC waste pods will continue to be stored on the site for the foreseeable future. 3. REVIEW OF MINUTES AND ACTIONS FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS Some amendments were made to the previous meeting notes by B.J, these were agreed with the group The minutes were reviewed and agreed. B.M will amend the notes and re-send them to the group The actions from the previous meeting were discussed: J.S-I sent out a planning summery and update post the last liaison meeting. The planning application was discussed by J.S-I; there have been no objections so far. J.S-I will update the group following WSCC s decision on the planning application. B.J explained the system of TRO s (Traffic Regulation Orders). The Highway Authority are only allowed three TSO changes per year, so it is unlikely that the LHWR speed limit will be decreased to 30mph. B.J will update the group again regarding LHWR speed limit at the next meeting All other actions from the last meeting have all been completed and there were no outstanding actions. 4. JOINT LIAISON MEETING WITH BRITANNIACREST AND WEINERBERGER B.J attended the Wienerberger liaison group meeting, and explained that they were open to the idea of a joint liaison meeting, but did not see what positives it would bring. No feedback has been received from Britannia crest. The idea was discussed amongst the group; it was decided we would not pursue a joint liaison group meeting between the businesses. 5. MBT UPDATE A.B gave an update on the MBT facility. This included the following information: Ramp up continues: Seeded third digester in March, is now giving good gas yields Waste inputs were increased 1 st April 2016 (PMN t of waste received in April). Gas production increasing steadily, we re now producing over 35MW/d. The facility is coping well with the increase waste throughput, giving over 85% operational availability. BWS has received 3 complaints since the last meeting. Each complaint was followed up in accordance with the complaints procedure. A.B discussed the complaints which related to odour, vehicle speeds, and a street sweeper vehicle kicking up dust. B.J Enquired further about the odour complaint. He stated that he (and Peter Rice) have noticed an odour since the last meeting. B.J had noted down 10 separate days since January that he had noticed a gas like

3 odour (south of the site). B.J continued that the odour was not as bad as previously, but was still noticeable. All members of the group had noticed an odour when they arrived at site for the meeting. Two of the reception doors were noticed to be open during the meeting, they were closed by A.B. B.J asks about Landfill diversion rates from the MBT. A.B states currently landfill diversion is approximately 20-25% but this is increasing, and will increase massively when RDF is diverted. 6. LANDFILL OPERATIONS UPDATE L.C gave an update on the landfill site which included photographs. Since the last meeting 122,736 tonnes of waste and restoration/engineering soils have been received on site. Operations are continuing in cell 6, with waste infilling expected to be complete in 2017 and capping and interim restoration completed in 2018/2019 The leachate system is working well and currently discharging around 175m 3 per day. This has increased to respond to the recent weather conditions. Gas production from the site is now at 2100m 3 /h Aggregate treatment recycling facility (ATRF) is running well. Throughput is currently 32 tonnes per hour 5 days a week. 71% of incoming material is being recycled, and 28% is being diverted from landfill. Sand is being sold back to market for block paving and aggregate is being used as drainage material on site. B.J enquired about the MBT outputs going to the ATRF facility. L.C states that the WPT heavies are being put through the rig at present, and we are testing other material to determine its suitability. B.J enquires about the soil that is being put on the landfill. The soil trucks are the loudest and noisiest that use LHWR. He asks about the duration of the soil capping, and what volume of soils is still required for the site. L.C did not have the soil figure to hand, and will present it at the next meeting L.C is meeting with a Biffa H&S advisor on the 3 rd May about the litter picking along LHWR. L.C will update the group on the outcome of this discussion at the next meeting. 7. MBT CONTINGENCY/EMERGENCY PLAN A.B discussed the Biffa West Sussex emergency response plan. He states there are multiple different scenarios that Biffa/WSCC can adopt depending on the severity and nature of the incident. The MBT has had two small fires since becoming operational, both caused a down-time of around 2hours. W. Sussex fire & rescue called and WSCC are informed and arrangements can be made regarding the incoming vehicles. The MBT and landfill have their own site emergency response plans. L.C states there have been no fires at the Brookhurstwood landfill, although it s not uncommon for landfill sites to have fires.

4 8. ENVIRONMENT AGENCY UPDATE B.M received update via from Mark Emery; as discussed at the previous meeting. Please find EA update below: Brookhurst Wood MBT The audit of the MBT plant, scheduled for March 2016 was unfortunately cancelled by the Environment Agency. This was due to a major pollution incident in West Sussex that occurred in the same week and required significant area staff resources for the incident itself and the subsequent investigation. We will look to rearrange this audit of the plant within the next couple of months. Since the time of the last meeting we have not received any complaints relating to the plant. Brookhurst Wood Landfill The Environment Agency is currently processing a revised permit for Brookhurst Wood Landfill. This is part of a national permit review exercise which is routinely carried out for all sectors on a 6-7 year basis and will not change what the landfill is able to accept or how it will be managed. If anyone would like to know more about this process, please contact the site officer, Alice Gregory-Morris - Alice.gregory-morris@environment-agency.gov.uk. Since the time of the last meeting we have not received any complaints relating to the Landfill. 9. WEST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL WASTES MANAGEMENT UPDATE A.T gave an update for WSCC Waste Management: The RDF procurement process, commenced by the Council in 2011, was aimed at putting in place a contract to divert the RDF off-take from the facility from landfill. That procurement has been delayed for some time in order to allow the MBT Facility to become fully operational and for the Authority to review both its existing waste contracts and waste strategy in the light of changing circumstances (including budgetary pressures). That review is now nearing completion and the conclusion of this exercise should allow the Cabinet Member for Cabinet Resources to approve a procurement strategy for the future management of residual waste streams in West Sussex. A.T informed the group about the Forward Plan of Key Decisions and Cabinet Member Decision Report information on the WSCC website. A.T to send the link to the forward plan and decision report pages to the liaison group before the next meeting.

5 10. AOB The closure of the Lancashire MBT facility was discussed, posing the question is the Brookhurstwood MBT facing the same fate. A.B and A.T reply, stating that the reasoning behind the Lancaster site close was commodity prices. The recycling industry has taken a big hit in recent years from a reduction in commodity prices. The W. Sussex MBT is far less impacted by recycling prices. B.J discussed a scoping report for a planning application that has been put forward by Britannia crest for an incinerator (indications appear to be that a more formal planning application may come forward at the end of the year). J.S-I to liaison with S.D P.G discussed the outcome of his phone conversations with A.D and HDC about their regular attendance. It was decided that P.G will contact the cabinet member for HDC to assess who would be best to attend the meeting; all agreed that anyone would be better than no one. P.G to share findings at the next meeting Post meeting note P.G: AS agreed I did e mail Roy Cornell regarding Adam Dracott and Roy has come back to say he is happy to replace Adam and serve on the Liaison Group. He is currently the District Councillor holding the portfolio for Waste Management. The next meeting date will be Wednesday 20 th July 2016 at 17:30pm. There will be a tour of the new ATRF at the Brookhurstwood landfill site at 4pm 20 th July (before the meeting) Actions B.M to amend the notes from the previous meeting and re-send them to the group J.S-I will update the group once a decision on the planning application is issued. B.J will update the group again regarding LHWR speed limit at the next meeting. L.C will provide the volume of soils remaining to enter the landfill it at the next meeting L.C will update the group on the outcome of the litter picking discussion at the next meeting. A.T to send the link to the forward plan and decision report pages to the liaison group before the next meeting. P.G to share findings regarding who is best to attend liaison meetings from HDC at the next meeting J.S-I will liaise with S.D regarding the B.C incineration planning application and feedback