Canadian Leachate Is Good Enough to Drink - Picture Proves It!

Evidence that some Canadian treated leachate is good enough to drink is given a dramatic demonstration in this picture courtesy of the London Free Press!

Susan Bradnam The London Free Press -- Bob McCaig drinks a glass of treated water from his Green Lane landfill site southwest of London to prove it's environmentally safe. The provincial government has approved a 10-million-tonne expansion of the landfill, raising area fears Toronto will truck its trash there.

http://lfpress.ca/gallery/1560/photos/LDN20060629SB_GreenL34ane.jpg

EA Says - Environment Not to be Considered as a Recipient of Pollutants and Waste

The UK Environment Agency's implementation of IPPC Regulations is progressing and the draft Guidance for the Treatment of Landfill Leachate Final DRAFT - Sector Guidance Note IPPC S5.03 is available on their web site here.

This is now (at 187 pages) an even longer document than the orginal draft, but it is now a significant reference document and source of information for all those interested in leachate treatment in the UK, and being freely available for downloading is also likely to be used in many other nations.

The EA does state that:

The BAT approach requires us not to consider the environment as a recipient of pollutants and waste, which can be filled up to a given level, but to do all that is practicable to minimise emissions from industrial activities and their impact.

For those unfamilar with the concept of BAT, BAT stands for Best Available Techniques. What constitutes a best available technique for the treatment of leachate is fully explained in the guidance document. The use of the word technique is broader than would be indicated if the word process had been used instead of technique, and means that a combination of a proven process and optimum implementation of the process is important when establishing that a treatment process is BAT.

Why is BAT important? It is important because the BAT philosophy is central to the UK's implementation of IPPC.

Who does the Guidance apply to? Everyone with leachate to discharge, or tanker away, from an IPPC regulated landfill.

Here is the context for the quotation above, which we have copied from the guidance:-

BAT and Environmental Quality Standards (EQS )

The BAT approach complements, but differs fundamentally from, regulatory approaches based on Environmental Quality Standards (EQS).

Essentially, BAT requires measures to be taken to prevent emissions - and measures that simply reduce emissions are acceptable only where prevention is not practicable. Thus, if it is economically and technically viable to reduce emissions further, or prevent them altogether, then this should be done irrespective of whether or not EQSs are already being met.

The BAT approach requires us not to consider the environment as a recipient of pollutants and waste, which can be filled up to a given level, but to do all that is practicable to minimise emissions from industrial activities and their impact.

The BAT approach first considers what emission prevention can reasonably be achieved (covered by Sections 2 and 3 of this Guidance) and then checks to ensure that the local environmental conditions are secure (see Section 4 of this Guidance and also Guidance Note IPPC Environmental Assessments for BAT).

The BAT approach is therefore the more precautionary one because the release level achieved may be better than that simply required to meet an EQS.

Conversely, if the application of indicative BAT might lead to a situation in which an EQS is still threatened, a more effective technique is required to be BAT for that installation. The Regulations allow for expenditure beyond indicative BAT where necessary, and, ultimately, an installation will only be permitted to operate if it does not cause significant pollution.

Several new leachate treatment technologies have now been included in the guidance. We will post again soon with further information on the technologies within this guidance.

Please add a comment, and respond with your views on this post - or simply encourage us to follow up with more discussion of this important UK leachate guidance. (It is easy to comment - just click on the word COMMENT below this posting, and complete the form.)

Swansea Firm Fined for Waste Offences

We all realise the importance of controlling leachate to prevent pollution. This UK Environment Agency web site News item shows that they will certianly prosecute if companies do not heed this requirement suitably.

B.J. Landholdings Ltd. of Plasmarl, Swansea have been fined a total of £2,000 by Swansea Magistrates (13.12.06) after pleading guilty to charges brought under Section 33 of The Environmental Protection Act 1990. The company was also ordered to pay full costs of £610 to Environment Agency Wales, who brought the prosecution.

The company holds a waste management licence for a closed landfill site at Penplas, Llangyfelach, Swansea. The site operated in the 1980’s, accepting building waste. It has now been restored to agriculture.

On two separate occasions this year, Environment Agency officers found contaminated water, known as leachate, leaking from the site into an nearby drainage ditch. The leaks appeared to be have been caused as a result of a build up of leachate within the site. It is the company’s responsibility to carry out regular maintenance and monitoring at the site, to ensure that it does not pollute the environment. In this case, the company should have been checking the leachate levels and removing it as required.

Following each incident, temporary repairs were carried out to the structure of the landfill, and excess leachate was removed from the site.

Magistrates were told that in an effort to provide a permanent solution to the problems, B.J. Landholdings Ltd are planning to install a leachate treatment system at the site; it is hoped that construction will start early in 2007. It is estimated that the proposed system will cost the company in excess of £60,000.

Speaking after the court hearing, Daron Herbert, Agency Environment Management Team Leader for the Swansea area, said:

Whilst the environmental impact of these particular incidents was relatively
minor, there remains the potential for a much more serious pollution incident if
standards of maintenance at the site are not improved. We are continuing to work
with the company to ensure the problem does not reoccur.

Leachate Blogger comment: This successful prosecution shows that the Environment Agency will not hesitate to take enforcement action against companies or individuals who fail to fulfil their responsibilities and so cause pollution to the environment.

However, it is quite common for closed landfills where monitoring has not been thought necessary, that there may be a gradually rising leachate level as the waste reaches absorbtive capacity over a long period. It can be easy to be caught out by this effect.