20200406E-EM-RICD-NRWA-contam01 - Dai Richards to NRW

The initial contact with NRW was through an aquaintance who worked there asking for advice on how I go about reporting 'waste crime'

20200407A-EM-NRWA-RICD-contam02 - Lisa Harris, NRW ( Lisa.Harris@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk ) to Dai Richards

Hello Mr Richards,

I work in the Neath Port Talbot Environment Team as a Senior Enforcement Officer – dealing with environmental crime. [my colleague] has passed on your details to me about a concern you have with possible contaminated land/ illegal burying of waste?

If you can send me your telephone number – I can call you later today to discuss further details of the location. It may be a site we are already dealing with? If it is a new site then I’d ask you to ring our incident line (0800 80 70 60) to report as a new site, which our Waste Regulation Team will look at in the first instance.

If I speak to you first then we can establish where the site is and if we are already investigating.

Kind Regards - Lisa Harris - Senior Enforcement Officer

20200407A-EM-RICD-NRWA-contam03 - Dai Richards to Lisa Harris, NRW

Hi Lisa - I hope you don't mind me calling you this, I find it difficult to deal with the Miss, Mrs & Ms situation when a lady replies to an email without a title. Please call me Dai. I would prefer to exchange information by email rather than over the phone. The site is on the inter valley road between Glynneath and Abercrave, just out of Glynneath, the postcodes of three properties which border the site are

SA11 5BA - SA11 5AY and SA11 5TU

Planning applications for the location are in place with NPTC here.......

https://planningonline.npt.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=externalDocuments&keyVal=Q6F34WKZI5U00

Previous planning application surveys show the land contaminated in 2008.

http://www.walk-around-wales.com/county/npt/glynneath/enzo-development/info-other/20080500a-DO-TFIR-geo.rpt.cuddy.pdf

NPT Planning department have been given more than one eyewitness accounts of illegal dumping of asbestos and barrels of chemical waste. I have asked them if they have reported this information to you but they have not replied to my email. One of these reports was submitted by myself on behalf of an elderly resident, I can forward this If you want. If you believe this to be a new report please can I report this personally to , via email or you forward my email to the correct person/department within your organisation so that I don't have to go through the telephone process which I find difficult.

I have photos take recently of what looks to be chemicals/oil at the site if they are of use?

regards - Dai Richards

20200407A-EM-NRWA-RICD-contam04 - Lisa Harris, NRW to Dai Richards

Hi Dai,

No problem calling me Lisa at all! I will take a look at the links you’ve sent me – if you do have photos then please forward. I’ll let you know shortly if any of these sites are already under investigation. If not would you be OK to call our incident hotline to report?? Or I can forward the information to our incident desks – if you want want feedback we would need a number for you or you can report as anonymous?

Will feedback to you later today on the sites,

Thanks,  -  Lisa

20200407A-EM-RICD-NRWA-contam05 - Dai Richards to Lisa Harris, NRW 

Hi Lisa - I'll send the photos in three emails with the explanation in the body of the email. All photos have been taken in the last 3 weeks. I've reduced the quality of the images but I think they would OK fto view, I have higher quality images if required - the first are from a plateau of disturbed ground which has not been worked on for 3-4 years. Dai

20200407A-EM-RICD-NRWA-contam06 - Dai Richards to Lisa Harris, NRW

on the stream below the tipped ground well above above the natural surface level with a view of the tipped ground from stream level. These were taken yesterday.

20200407A-EM-RICD-NRWA-contam07 - Dai Richards to Lisa Harris, NRW

a permanent puddle containing what looked be unhatched frog spawn from the start of a surface water stream bed that runs off the tipped ground. I would have thought any tadpoles would have hatched by now and some looked to be partly developed. When I attempted to identify if it was spawn whatever the substance was disintigrated on touch. The line is the bed of the stream and X marks the spot of the close up photo also taken yesterday.

20200518A-EM-RICD-NRWA-contam08 - Dai Richards to Lisa Harris, NRW

Hi Lisa - I'm just wondering if there is an update on the site we talked about. I note from an email from the NPTC planning that the Cuddy Group were tipping under an NRW licence and that you have previously investigated the site as well. Would it be possible to get this information please, is it available on the web? Also, if available, would you be able to point me to an on-line source for the contaminated land register? - regards - Dai Richards

20200519A-EM-NRWA-RICD-contam09 - Lisa Harris, NRW to Dai Richards

Hi Dai, - Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. The site in question is not one that my Enforcement colleagues have dealt with in the past. I will pass the email chain details to onto our Regulatory Waste Team. It may be that the may have dealt with it previously??

Unfortunately, in these strange times, we are not in our usual Office so access to some older documents are difficult at present. 
If you do have immediate concerns about any illegal waste activities then could you call our incident line provided below. If my colleagues from Regulatory Waste have any further information I will get to you,

Regards, - Lisa

20200519A-EM-NRWA-RICD-contam10 - Lisa Harris, NRW to Dai Richards

I have had some more info from other colleagues – just getting clarification on what we can share with you. So watch this space.

Regards - Lisa

20200519A-EM-NRWA-RICD-contam11 - Lisa Harris, NRW to Dai Richards

Hi Dai,

Please expect an update from NRW local Regulatory Waste Team for South West regarding your queries below,

Thankyou - Regards - Lisa

20200519A-EM-NRWA-RICD-contam12 - Sally Wakeford, NRW to Dai Richards

Good afternoon Dai,

The Waste Regulation Team has been passed your query from Lisa Harris, as the site in question, off Heol Y Gwyn, has an Environmental Permit active on the site. You have requested information on the permit on the site, the permit and compliance assessments are public register documents, and therefore are available to the public.

Cuddy Demolition & Dismantling Ltd hold an environmental permit, which allowed the importing of wastes such as aggregates in construction. A copy of the permit is attached to this email. They hold a Standard Rules permit for deposit for use in construction, which means they have to undertake the activity in accordance with a standard set of rules, which are also attached.

The site is currently non-operational and Cuddy Demolition & Dismantling Ltd are in administration. The site, therefore, is under the control of the administrators.

The land of Heol Y Gwyn was inspected in August 2019, and a Compliance Assessment Report was produced. Please find this also attached.

Due to the current lockdown restrictions we will make a record to monitor this site as restriction ease.

If you have specific concerns and wish to report this to our incident line, you can email your report and the photographs you mentioned to icc@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Kind Regards, - Sally Wakeford

Tîm Rheoleiddio Gwastraff (DG Cymru) / Waste Regulation Team (Southwest)

Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru / Natural Resources Wales - 0300 065 3000 

www.cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk / www.naturalresourceswales.gov.uk

CUDDY PERMIT 2014 - CLICK HERE

2019 - COMPLIANCE FOR SITE WITH PERMIT REPORT - CLICK HERE

Notes from this report In the previous compliance assessment report dated 13/12/16 (Reference CAR_NRW0026785) a non-compliance with the emissions management plan for site was identified and scored. The action put forward was that a tarmac turning circle should be installed on site to prevent the tracking of soil and mud off site. While this action has been broadly complied with care must be taken to ensure that the integrity of the tarmac turning circle is maintained.

2016 - USE OF WASTE IN CONSTRUCTION - NRW RULES - CLICK HERE

Notes - 2.3 - waste acceptance - (d) chemical (e) excavated soil

2.3.2 - removed from site

Table 2.3 waste types 

17 01 01 - concrete - this is already there and 

came into being 2013