Closed landfill sites fall into two categories; a) those whose closure is regulated by a Waste Management Licence (WML), and b) those closed prior to 1994, whose closure was not regulated by a WML.

The Environment Agency is responsible for those that fall into category a). These are covered by our services in Landfill Completion Reporting and Hydrogeological Risk Assessment Reviews. Those that fall into category b) are the responsibility of the local authority, and are also likely to fall within the purview of Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act, 1990. There are many thousands of such sites in the UK.

Landfill sites that were permitted under the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) regime (now combined with the WML regime, under the Environmental Permitting Regulations that came in to force in April 2008) are closely regulated. However, older closed landfills have received little attention and regulatory requirements have been similarly limited.

As a result, there are often very few environmental monitoring data available for such sites, and a robust conceptual model of their potential environmental impacts has often not been developed.

In November 2007, the Environment Agency’s National Permitting Service Closed Landfill Team was created in order to take forward the risk-based regulation of Closed Landfills (with WMLs). It is therefore likely that the regulatory requirements, and associated data collection, interpretation and reporting for such sites will increase. Whilst the Environment Agency is responsible for those that fall into category a), the responsibility for pollution prevention from category b) sites rests with the pertinent local authority. Whilst some local authorities have done considerable work on the closed landfills in their area, others have not yet committed many resources to what may be a hidden problem.

ESI can provide bespoke support to local authorities and businesses in relation to issues arising from closed landfills.

Services: - Closed Landfill Support Service

	Review and interpretation of existing historical reports and data sets;
	Development of a screening matrix to help eliminate sites that do not pose a threat to the environment and to prioritise those that are of most concern;
	Development of a robust site conceptual model to determine environmental risks;
	Identification of data gaps and additional monitoring and infrastructure requirements in order to inform the development / confirmation of a conceptual model, and enable adequate on-going environmental monitoring;
	Design of environmental monitoring networks and suitable borehole design specifications;
	Production of a site-specific environmental monitoring schedule (including groundwater, landfill gas, surface water and leachate chemical suites as appropriate);
	On-going data management, analysis, interpretation and reporting;
	Assessment of the data to establish changes in: - the source term (the landfill mass and the leachate contained therein); - the pathways by which contaminants may migrate (including the landfill engineering components); and - the environmental receptors that might be impacted by any contamination;
	Construction of a risk assessment (simple through to complex) in order to assess the level of risk posed by such a closed landfill site to relevant controlled waters and people in the vicinity.

ESI can help you meet your responsibilities with regard to closed landfill sites by providing specialist expertise for soil and groundwater contamination issues, and through its associates for landfill gas issues.

ESI’s considerable experience in soil and groundwater science enables us to address, in an innovative and practical manner, issues that may arise at sites where limited baseline or historical information is available. Our proven track record and working relationships with regulatory authorities also enables pragmatic discussions and satisfactory solutions to be found.

Case Studies: - Closed Landfill Support Service

Please contact ESI (01743 276100 / email) for more information on the Closed Landfill Support Service.

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