Landfill sites are closely regulated and there is an onus on site owners to manage sites and their associated environmental liabilities for as long as they continue to pose a risk to the environment. Over time there is a gradual decrease in the concentrations of potential contaminants present in landfills and there comes a point when they no longer pose a risk to environmental receptors. At this point, the landfill licence or permit can be surrendered and the site is said to be completed.
In order to surrender a licence or permit, the site owner must demonstrate that the risk from the site is no worse than it was when the environmental permit was issued. This is achieved via the production of a landfill surrender report. Landfill surrender reports require an assessment of the current condition of the landfill and its surroundings.
ESI has assisted a number of operators to achieve landfill completion with the result that these sites are no longer a liability and can be developed for subsequent use thus transforming a liability into an asset.
Services provide by ESI to support landfill completion reporting include:
- A review of environmental monitoring data collected for site assessment purposes
- Assessment of the data and relevant monitoring and risk assessment reports, to establish long-term changes in:
a) the source term (the landfill mass and the leachate contained therein);
b) the pathways by which contaminants may migrate (including the landfill engineering components);
c) the environmental receptors that might be impacted by any contamination.
- Update, or reconstruction of, the risk assessment(s) if this is required
- Review and updating of site stability plans and reports
- Concise reporting of:
a) outcomes of environmental data review;
b) long-term trends in contaminant concentrations;
c) changes to pathways and environmental receptors;
d) comparison of the current and baseline situations;
e) summary of any residual risks and recommendations for site completion.
Please contact ESI for more information on landfill surrender applications by telephone on +44 (0) 1743 276100 or by email on info@esinternational.com.