Letham Community Website

Update email  from SEPA on the work at the Landfill site:

Following on from my email to you in November, I said I would provide an update to you all in the new year on action that is being taken at Lower Melville Wood (LMW) landfill site to address the odour issue:-

• SEPA has continued to receive complaints relating to odour from the LMW site – 72 complaints since the start of November, 15 of which have been substantiated by SEPA. The presence of odour is often influenced by weather conditions (eg. atmospheric pressure), so it is not unusual to have a higher number of complaints regarding odour from landfill sites during the winter months. As previously, SEPA continues to investigate any odour complaint that it receives and to undertake pro-active odour assessments on a regular basis.

• The substantiated odour complaints mean that, under SEPA’s Compliance Assessment Scheme (CAS), the site is now classed as having a ‘poor’ level of compliance with the site permit.

• Following SEPA’s meeting in November 2016 with the operators of the LMW site, Resource Efficient Solutions / Fife Council (RES / FC),  a proposal has been submitted to SEPA to install permanent capping on part of the site. The purpose of the capping would be to help control fugitive emissions of odour (landfill gas), and further enable the collection and utilisation of gas generated at the landfill site.  SEPA’s expectation is that this will in turn reduce the potential for odour off site.

It is proposed that the capping would be undertaken in 2 phases;

–          Phase 1 – the installation of the cap itself, which will take the form of a geomembrane cap (ie. a synthetic membrane liner over the waste)

–          Phase 2 – placement of restoration soils on the cap and subsequent hydro-seeding.

At the present time, it is intended that Phase 1 will be completed by mid Feb 2017 (weather permitting). Phase 2 will commence once suitable restoration material has been sourced.

• A second gas engine has been brought onto the site, which should also improve the efficiency of gas collection at the site.  It has yet to be connected to the gas collection system and commissioned, but the intention is that this engine will be operational by March time.

• SEPA will be meeting again with RES / FC on 2 February 2017, to ensure that progress continues to be made to address odour and that the level of compliance at the site improves.

A number of you replied to my email in November to say that you found these updates helpful. I would therefore intend to provide a further update in March, unless there are any significant developments to advise you of before then (including anything resulting from the forthcoming meeting with RES / FC).

As always, members of the public etc can contact the SEPA Glenrothes office on 01592 776910 to report an odour during office hours and SEPA’s call centre any other time on 0800 80 70 60.