LANDFILL MANAGEMENT Liability of the landfill Once closed, landfill
sites can present a significant financial and environmental burden. Councils must act now to turn this potential liability into an opportunity, argues Edward Dent
While the findings raise many questions about the strategic direction of UK waste policy, we should also ask what local authorities and other site owners will do with these sites once they are full. While open, landfill sites can operate as a prof- itable business. However, once full, they can become a signif- icant financial and environmental liability. Under current rules, any owner looking to close a landfill site has to make financial provision to guarantee the moni- toring, maintenance and security of the site for a minimum of 60 years into the future and this must be shown on their balance-sheet as a contingent liability. Cornwall Council, for example, is spending in the region of £1M per year on the maintenance of just one landfill site – and has 11 more in total under its control. Multiplied over several decades, this is a considerable financial burden for any organisation, particularly cash-strapped local authorities looking to make savings throughout their portfolio.
R No guarantees
The problem is compounded by the fact that there is no guar- antee that this liability will be lifted after 60 years. Some esti- mates suggest contingency payments will continue for over 100 years. Costs of course will be even higher if any incidents – floods, explosions, escape of leachate into groundwater and soil – occur which pollute neighbouring areas and leave the owner with compensation and clean up costs in addition to their ongoing liabilities. For example, Northamptonshire County Council recently agreed to pay out £6M compensation after it was found that leachate from one of its old landfills had contaminated a neighbouring area of land. And Northamptonshire is not alone. Most councils are facing similar problems and the older the landfill site, the worse the potential hazard as
38 Local Authority Waste & Recycling October 2010
ecent findings from the Local Government Association that Britain will run out of land- fill space in less than eight years should be of grave concern to local authority finance directors as much as the recycling lobby.
many modern safety design features will not have been included. For many, it is only a matter of time before a similar inci- dent occurs. Site owners, especially local authorities, need to start planning now to minimise future costs. They should start thinking of these sites as ‘blackfield land’ with the poten- tial for development. The sites are, for the most part, large spaces with good road and communications links on the out- skirts of urban areas. In other words, ripe for other usage.
What are your options? At my company, we have been working with a number of local authorities who have been struggling to assess their options. Many have considered measures such as creating public amenities, for example golf courses or wildlife and dog walking areas. However, this is not a cheap option. It costs a great deal to close, remediate and restore landfill sites, and public amenities generate almost nothing in terms of return to the tax-payer.
Another option is to see the sites as resource beds, full of useful materials for recycling and other markets. Councils could partner with energy-from-waste operators to retro- spectively recycle resources, generate energy and income and then start a clean-up operation ahead of development for industrial, business or even housing usage. They could even incorporate all aspects in a transition plan that starts with intermediate uses which don’t require major engineering works, but can generate an income, fol- lowed by longer term measures to remediate and reclaim the site in full.
No local authority can afford to ignore the liabilities or the potential opportunities these sites represent. Even mitigat- ing some of the burden is better than paying the full cost. However, unless plans are made now, the liabilities will be paid for decades to come. Yesterday’s waste will mount up to become tomorrow’s debts. It’s time we paid them off.
Edward Dent is managing director of Blackfield Land
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48