Work is currently underway to install a temporary capping layer on the southern side of Cell 6, as required by the Environment Agency (EA) under a formal compliance notice.
Progress has been slower than planned due to the exceptional hot weather experienced this summer. High temperatures make it difficult to lay and compact the specialist capping materials to the required engineering standard, and extreme weather conditions over the past week have continued to affect progress. To make the most of every available opportunity, work will continue through the coming weekend.
As part of the installation process for the capping layer, some of the existing landfill gas extraction wells in the working area need to be temporarily disconnected. This is an unavoidable part of the construction process and was always anticipated within the overall programme.
We want to be open about what this means in practice. Whilst those wells are out of service, gas extraction in that part of the site will be temporarily reduced, which may lead to a short-term increase in the potential for odour and odour complaints.
Residents may recall that, both at a previous liaison group meeting and in representations made directly to the EA ahead of the notice being issued, Transwaste drew attention to the operational realities of undertaking works of this nature at speed. The current situation reflects those realities. Any short-term increase in emissions during this period should be understood in that context, and as an unavoidable consequence of delivering the engineering works within the timescales the notice requires.
The gas contractor, CLP, will keep the remaining extraction system running as efficiently as possible throughout, with disconnected wells reinstated promptly once each section of capping is complete. Odour monitoring will continue across the site, with any necessary adjustments made without delay.
