Derbyshire landfill site: Disappointment amid reports of ‘gas’ smell, soil slippage and noise at landfill site

Residents of Poolsbrook and Duckmanton have been worried after the ‘gas’ smell that plagued them last year has returned to their villages this month.

This comes after horrible odour from Erin Landfill site brought residents to tears last year – before the site operator Valencia installed gas wells to resolve the issue following months of lobbying.

Cllr Anne-Frances Hayes, said: “I have received a rise in complaints about the smell emanating from the Erin Landfill over recent weeks. Whilst the odour is not nearly as bad as it was a year or so ago before the operator was successfully persuaded to carry out maintenance work on its gas monitoring stations, this is nevertheless very disappointing.

“I have reported this to the Planning Enforcement Team at Derbyshire County Council and the Environment Agency, whose representative in turn visited the site on Friday March 7.

"During her visit, I was very disappointed to learn that the landfill Site Manager had confirmed this was likely due to Valencia carrying out gas emergency works, about which they had not notified residents – as they are duty and contractually bound to do.”

On Sunday, March 9, residents reported strong odour and noise coming from the site.

Environment Agency have investigated concerns and found that ‘gas emergency maintenance work’ was carried out at the landfill with the site manager ‘not aware that this was going to take place’.

Residents have also reported that they saw soil slipping down the bank of the upfill, exposing the membrane underneath and submitted further complaints about works at the landfill site being carried out outside the agreed working hours.

The Planning Enforcement Department at the Derbyshire County Council was advised that soils have slumped exposing the cap at two areas on the northern slope of the landfill site.

The reports said that this occurred in late 2024 due to heavy rainfall which resulted in rainwater percolating through the capping soils.

While the soils have slumped, the cap remains intact and remediation works are planned when soils are sufficiently dry, and ground conditions allow.

Cllr Anne-Frances Hayes said: “I am also concerned that there appears to have been soil slippage on site that seems to have taken time to remedy, as well as complaints about noise and potential out-of-hours working.

“I would remind the operator that their license to carry out landfill works comes with responsibilities to the local communities whose quality of life they, sadly, impact.

“In the meantime, I continue to work alongside activists and councillors from areas across the country that have landfill sites in their backyards including Whinney Hill in Accrington, and others in Canterbury and Greater Manchester, to lobby MPs to raise issues in Parliament around creating stricter planning laws for landfill operators.

"In the light of recent comments by the Chief Regulator of the Environment Agency, Dr Jo Nettleton, I should also like to see Westminster give greater powers to the Environment Agency to hold operators to account.”

In a report published in January, the Environment Agency Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Nettleton, called for a regulation framework reform which would give the Environment Agency ‘more teeth’ ensuring firm action is taken against those whose performance falls below standard, so that they improve, are held to account and do not gain advantage from cutting corners.

Speaking about the issues at the Erin Landfill Site, the Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We continue to receive, and investigate, reports of odours in the area around Duckmantion, Poolsbook and the Erin Landfill site. We take these reports seriously and we have allocated additional resources to this issue.

"We continue to carry out regular inspections of all onsite activities to check compliance with all aspects of their Environmental Permit. We are also liaising with the operator as we look to them to carry out any necessary remediation.

“Our inspections include looking for potential sources of landfill gas. We have not identified any significant sources at present. This does not alter the fact that residents in the area are being impacted by odours, and we urge members of the public to continue to report odour issues to us to help us investigate the causes. Odour reports can be made to the Environment Agency’s 24-hour Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

“We issue environmental permits that set standards for those operating landfill sites and those sites must adhere to strict conditions to minimise their impact on the environment and the local community. Our investigation into the source of landfill odour and action required is ongoing.

“We would encourage the community to keep reporting odour issues to us immediately.”

A Derbyshire County Council spokesperson said: “Following residents’ concerns raised with us by the Local Member we contacted the site operator and carried out an inspection.

“We discussed the issues around landslip with the landfill manager and were informed that work to restore soil slumps which slipped after a period of heavy rain will start when the soil is dry and ground conditions allow. The area will then be seeded.

“While odour from landfill is regulated by the Environment Agency we were informed that in response to the concerns raised the operator carried out an inspection and found a slight leak in the landfill cap on the Duckmanton (south) side which was producing a slight localised odour. We understand additional pinning works to seal the cap edge were being carried out.

“Meanwhile, the company has offered a direct contact for anyone concerned about issues relating to the site and we would remind residents that they can report any work outside permitted hours to our planning service online or by email. Concerns about odour should be reported to the Environment Agency.”

A spokesperson for Valencia said: “The Erin landfill site holds a valid planning permission and environment permit from the Environment Agency. We continue to monitor gas production and operate landfill gas engines onsite to manage this gas.

"In recent months extensive work has occurred across the site, with temporary, and permanent capping as the site moves into the next phase of its development. Valencia has also invested heavily in drilling 25 additional landfill gas wells to capture and extract gases before generating energy with engines located onsite.

“We are sorry that residents feel operations are occurring outside of our permitted activity. The landfill site is permitted to operate tipping activity 0700hrs – 1630hrs Monday to Friday, and 0700hrs – 1300hrs Saturday, with covering soil activities, and site monitoring and maintenance activities occurring outside of these hours.

“We are committed to keeping residents informed of key activities onsite. Should any members of the community have any queries we operate a community relations line – [email protected].”