Public Meeting on Veolia Appeal: Wednesday 20th September

The planned public meeting regarding Veolia’s planned development of a Waste Transfer Station & Refuse Derived Fuel production plant has been confirmed by LLRA & Stop Veolia. The meeting will be at St. Faith’s C of E Infant School, West Parade, LN1 1QS on Wednesday 20th September. Arrive at 6:15pm for a 6:30pm start. Please help show the community’s opposition to the Veolia development by attending this meeting. The meeting will

• provide further information on Veolia’s planning appeal against refusal of their original application
• explain key deadlines and the public inquiry process
• explain what residents can do to help protect their community.

Community responses to the appeal need to be with the Planning Inspector by the 4th October so it is essential we have the facts before then to allow informed comment.

Attendees will include Karen Lee MP, Local City and County Councillors together with Key Planning Officials who can explain the overall Public Inquiry process.

Long Leys Residents’ Association, reflecting the views of residents and local businesses, are opposed to the development as we consider it is inappropriate and unsuitable for a primarily residential neighbourhood close to the heart of the City of Lincoln. We continue to encourage Veolia to explore other sites available including those already offered by Lincoln Council.

Note: Representatives of Veolia were invited to this meeting and offered a range of dates. They declined to suggest suitable alternative dates before the 4th October deadline for Planning Inspectorate submissions and on Friday 8th September finally stated that they are unable to field someone senior from Veolia to talk to the community on 20th September.

What are some of the community concerns?

Noise & Traffic

These 12 metre vehicles will leave Long Leys every day (except Sunday) either to drive along Yarborough Road or onto the A57. They will be loaded with Refuse Derived Fuel which has been produced at the site by shredding general municipal waste (black bag type waste or waste code 20 03 01 as the Environmental permit will describe it). The new vehicles will add to the existing Veolia vehicles that are stored on the site; vehicles from the existing Veolia operation often leave at 4:30am in the morning, disturbing the sleep of nearby residents at Oakleigh Terrace on Long Leys Road.

The waste will be brought in from all over Lincolnshire using Veolia Refuse Collection vehicles such as the one above.

Risk of Fire

Veolia won’t tell us the detail on what materials (the specific waste codes or the type of Environmental Permit they will apply for) will be processed at the Long Leys site and they are vague about what the maximum storage time will be for the general municipal waste and the shredded Refuse Derived Fuel. However, we do know that there are 250 fires a year in waste transfer stations. The fire shown above was on the 24th August 2017 in Derby at a Veolia waste transfer station. The blaze pulled fire crews from all over Derbyshire and sent plumes of thick black smoke into the sky above the city.
See the video and more details at https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/veolia-deny-allegations-lax-health-382561

The LLRA understand that diesel is currently stored on the Veolia site for existing vehicles. Nearby businesses include a car repair shop next door along with a timber storage yard.

Flies & Odour

Shredding general municipal waste close to neighbouring homes is bad news for residents. The above picture of fly paper was taken from a home within 400 metres of Veolia’s Kirkby in Ashfield operation. This new “state of the art” facility opened in March 2017 and by July 2017 was attracting huge numbers of complaints from residents about odour and flies. The local Ashfield MP, Gloria de Piero stated: “It is unacceptable for residents in the Summit area of Kirkby to have to put up with this foul smell: I have been up there myself and know how awful it is. It must be hell to be living with it day in, day out, especially during hot summer days, and I understand the anger and frustration they are feeling.” Read more about the Ashfield MP’s views.

The Environment Agency were called in to the Kirkby in Ashfield site and are now regulating the site closely. The LLRA requested the Environment Agency’s report on this under Freedom of Information request. Read the Environment Agency’s response to our Freedom of Information request.

We can’t assess how bad the odour and flies will be at Long Leys. No one can, because insufficient detail has been provided by Veolia and they won’t answer detailed questions about the types of waste that the site will process. We have asked Veolia to apply for an Environmental Permit from the Environment Agency before the Public Inquiry takes place. That way we will know the specific waste codes and operational procedures that Veolia’s site will be regulated on by the Environment Agency.

We have also highlighted our concerns to City of Lincoln council and Lincolnshire County council.
Read the report we sent to the councils.

Veolia’s Unanswered Questions

Our experience of dealing with Veolia is that they are not a very open company or willing to volunteer additional information. We have provided them with a list of detailed questions (see below email copy to Victoria Cooper the Veolia Communications Manager) that residents would like specific answers to. Even if they don’t show up for the public meeting then answering these questions before the 20th September would be helpful to the community. We look forward to their responses.

Email to Victoria Cooper
Dear Victoria

I am sure it is a somewhat bizarre position you find yourself in as communications manager having, one can only assume, been instructed not to communicate with the local Residents Association. It would be gracious of Veolia to at least acknowledge receipt of my email if that fits with whatever guidelines to “community engagement” Veolia is following.

Public Meeting 20th September
Can I confirm that the invitation for a Veolia representative(s) to present information at our 20th September 2017 meeting in Lincoln still stands. I offer Veolia a 10 minute slot at this approx 75 minute meeting to speak to residents. The event is scheduled to start at 6:30pm. Present at the meeting will be local politicians, planning representatives and of course the local community along with representatives of the media . Please confirm or decline this invitation by 4pm Monday 11th September. I will take an absence of communication from yourselves by that time as your indication that Veolia are declining to attend. I can supply the Lincoln location details and how to find the venue etc if you choose to accept.

Request/questions from residents
Below is a list of questions that the community would ask Veolia to answer which has been forwarded to Karen Lee MP. Ideally, we would get responses (via Karen) before the public meeting so that the residents are fully informed about the development. I draw your attention particularly to Q9. Residents feel that twin-tracking the site Environment Permit alongside the planning appeal would provide greater transparency at the public inquiry and protect the public purse.

Q1: Over what geographical distance does Veolia intend to transport incoming residual waste for processing at the Lincoln plant? Will this include locations outside of Lincolnshire and if so what towns/cities may be included? We have heard that waste from Peterborough in Cambridgeshire may be processed. Is this correct?
Q2: Please identify the specific vehicles that Veolia will use to bring to site mixed municipal waste/residual waste for processing into RDF. Will this always be in Refuse Collection Vehicles or will it be transported in other vehicles as well (Front-End Lift Vehicles/Roll on Roll off or Skip Lorry)?
Q3: The access proposed by Veolia from Long Leys Road onto the estate, with 8.4m width and a 10m tangential radius on either side, involves land owned by other parties including AW Curtis. How will Veolia deliver their proposed access to Long Leys Road without securing the permission of AW Curtis?

Q4: Please advise what the anticipated noise levels will be for residents of Oakleigh Terrace as the 12-metre length articulated lorries loaded with RDF turn onto Long Leys Road.

Q5: In the planning application Veolia sometimes refer to Commercial waste and sometimes Commercial and Industrial waste. Please confirm what the difference is if any in terms of waste codes processed between the Commercial and Industrial descriptions.

Q6: Please supply details of the waste codes and estimated tonnages that the plant will process.

Q7: Please explain the difference, in terms of different waste codes processed, between the residual waste that Veolia will collect from commercial sites and the waste codes used to classify household waste?

Q8: Is it Veolia’s intention to apply for a bespoke or a standard rules Environmental Permit? If a standard rules permit, which one will Veolia apply for?

Q9: Residents request that Veolia progress the Environmental Permit for this site with the Environment Agency and present to residents by 1st November to allow greater scrutiny before the public hearing. Will Veolia commit to this?

Q10: Please supply the address of the energy from waste facility that will burn the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) produced by the plant. Please also supply the end-user’s technical specifications relating as a minimum to the calorific value, the moisture content, the form and quantity of the RDF.

Q11: Is it intended that the site will process residual waste from Burger King (Kout Food Group Restaurants UK) such as the Burger King outlets in Lincoln?

Q12: Please provide details on the specification and closure time for the roller door used by vehicles to access the shredding area of the building.

Q13: Will the air pressure of the shredding area of the building be maintained below atmospheric pressure to avoid fugitive emissions? How many air changes per hour are proposed for this building?

Q14: Please provide details of any air filtration proposed for the shredding area.

Q15: Please provide details on the maximum holding time for shredded waste/RDF in the open sided loading bay that will be included in the Environmental permit (including Christmas and Easter holidays).

Q16: Please explain how the RDF will not create smell when it is tipped loose in an open sided building awaiting collection. Please explain how flies and vermin will be prevented from accessing the loose RDF waste in the open side building when awaiting collection.

Q17: Please provide performance and COSHH data for the odour suppression sprays to be used at the site along with estimated annual volume of usage.

Q18: Please identity the qualifications and professional competence to undertake odour assessments of the author of the Odour Assessment report submitted as part of Veolia’s planning application.

Q19: Please provide details on the likely causes of the fire in August 2017 at a Veolia Waste Transfer Station at London Road, Alvaston, Derby and the waste codes and tonnages of waste stored on this site. Please explain what went wrong in Veolia’s operational and fire prevention controls at this site which allowed a fire to destroy the building. Please advise what remedial actions Veolia will be taking on other sites they operate to address the causes of this fire.
See: http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/veolia-deny-allegations-lax-health-382561

Q20: Please provide details on the likely causes of the odour and fly problems reported in July 2017 to the Environment Agency at Veolia’s Kirkby in Ashfield site under permit LP3839DK together with a list of the remedial actions Veolia has had to take as a result to satisfy regulators.
See: https://long-leys.org/pdf/EA-FOI-re-Kirkby-EMD-57481-Final.pdf

Q21: We are concerned that recycled material may end up at a lower level on the Waste Hierarchy. Please comment on the accuracy of GMB union claims of 17 July 2017 that they have emails suggesting Veolia, under their Sheffield waste management contract, diverted material destined for recycling to their incinerator at Sheffield to be burnt.
See http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/veolia-leaked-email

Q22: Please advise whether Veolia are willing to rule out, for a minimum of 10 years at the Long Leys site and its neighbouring properties:
– construction of an incinerator to burn RDF or generate electricity
– purchase or lease by Veolia of any additional land to allow further expansion of their operations.
– expansion beyond 46,500 tons of processed waste annually.

Q23: Please advise why Teal Park is not being considered as a viable option for the RDF production plant? The incinerator is owned by the State (county council) and has a need for RDF and Veolia is a provider of RDF, the carbon footprint of operations would be significantly reduced if the Waste was processed and burnt at the same vast (only partially occupied) non-residential site which is specially designed for high volume heavy goods traffic.

Kind regards

Jon Davies
Secretary, Long Leys Residents’ Association