Thursday, September 25, 2008

Path Head - landfill investigation moves forward



The European Commission is to investigate Environment Agency claims about the path head landfill site.

Shocked officials have vowed to take action after learning that the site operator SITA has been found to be in breach of four of its operating conditions – information which the Environment Agency had failed to pass onto the Commission.

The facts emerged in a meeting of the petition committee of the European Parliament. Path Head residents submitted a petition to the Parliament in 2005 with the help of North East Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall.

The Commission officials were further shocked when the MEP produced pictures of the Path Head site, shown above, taken by a resident during recent heavy rain.

The photos show the waste cells flooded with water, and leachate from the rubbish site clearly polluting a lagoon which drains into a local stream.

Fiona has written to the chairman of the committee, Polish MEP Marcin Libicki to ask him to visit the site to meet local officials and residents.

Said Fiona: “Despite the fact that the petition committee has a very full diary at present, Mr Libicki reacted positively.

“I very much hope the path head committee will come to see the problems for themselves.”

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