Kerry McCarthy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor and manage old landfill sites in coastal areas at risk of being breached by coastal erosion and changes in sea levels and (b) reduce potential future environmental consequences from such erosion.

Rory Stewart

Monitoring and management of old landfill sites including in coastal areas, is a matter for local authorities under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Part 2A of the Act provides for the local authority to carry out remediation itself where there is an unacceptable risk to human health, or the Environment Agency (EA) where there is serious pollution to controlled waters (these include coastal waters and important groundwater sources), and to then recover the costs from those who are considered liable.

The EA is actively researching this area including supporting a research project by Queen Mary’s University to assess the impact of historic Essex coastal landfills on the local environment. The EA hopes the research findings into these historic landfill sites may provide a useful contribution to future shoreline management plans.