Hazardous waste facility bid for site near Billingham

Stockton Council is considering a request from Cumbria Waste Recycling Ltd is to repurpose an existing industrial site to handle both hazardous and non-hazardous waste, including its treatment, temporary storage and transfer.

They intend to change their existing facilities at Seal Sands near Billingham into a “hazardous waste transfer and treatment facility which will include imports of both hazardous and non-hazardous liquid and solid wastes for treatment, temporary storage and transfer”.

The 1.85-hectare area is on the site of a former chemical processing and production facility.

Stephenson Halliday Ltd has submitted a screening request on behalf of Cumbria Waste Recycling (CWR), for the council to make a “judgment on the likelihood of the project giving rise to significant environmental effects”.

It says in its request: “CWR intend to repurpose much of the existing facility for the purposes of establishing a hazardous waste transfer and treatment facility.

This facility will receive, bulk, and treat both hazardous and non-hazardous waste arising from industrial customers within the Tees Valley area, as well as niche waste streams from specialist operators nationwide.

The request adds: “Under the proposed development, much of the existing site will be retained and repurposed for the purposes of waste storage, bulking, and processing. A new weighbridge will be installed on site for the acceptance of waste. The final design of the facility has yet to be determined.”

The developer says waste would be delivered by road, sampled, analysed then either accepted and stored, rejected and returned, or put into quarantine until discrepancies can be resolved.

“The site is fully capable of safely and securely accommodating hazardous wastes of differing properties within separate, dedicated areas,” says the request.

It says the development mostly involves accepting, bulking and transferring waste, “with almost negligible levels of hazardous waste chemical treatment planned for the future”.

It says none of the principal operations involve chemical treatment of waste, though the company is “exploring the treatment of small quantities of specialist waste”.

Wastes would be stored in five areas – the main warehouse, a flammable waste storage area, a secure storage area or two yards.

“Depending upon the nature of the waste, the site will facilitate waste treatments on suitable, compatible wastes in order to separate, bulk and repackage the waste for transfer offsite to a suitably licensed waste management facility where the waste undergoes additional treatment, is subject to recovery or is subject to disposal,” the developer said.

It is proposed that the facility will deal with about 90,000 tonnes of waste per year for bulking and transfer, about 50,000 tonnes for producing waste-derived fuel, and about 15,000 tonnes of mixed oil and water in liquid wastes. About 10 HGVs would access the facility from Seal Sands Road per day between 6am and 6pm.

The statement adds: “Vehicle movements to and from the site will be limited to normal daytime operating hours and restricted to a 5mph speed limit when on site.

“Waste treatment, including bulking of wastes, will take place inside enclosed tanks and enclosed buildings. The site is constructed of impermeable surfaces with a contained drainage system, which would contain any spillage and prevent its discharge into the environment.”

The developer says the proposed facility “would not result in any significant landscape and visual impacts” and “there will be no adverse traffic and transport impacts”, nor significant impact from noise, dust or smells. It says the treatment facility would employ about 15 people full-time and would support local businesses, suppliers and the local economy.

It adds: “The nature of the operations and variety of wastes to be accepted at the site means that odour may be generated.

“However, the emission of odour will be controlled via an odour management plan that has been prepared as part of the environmental permitting regime, which sets out how odours will be prevented and minimised.”

It asserts the proposed development would make “relatively minimal changes” to an existing industrial site, with no nearby residents which could be affected. It argues the plan will not need an environmental impact assessment in the planning process.