Leatherdog Lane Tip

Further to the recent press coverage of the abuse of the local community by the new operators of the Leatherdog Lane tip. This situation has been an absolute disgrace since the original small operation sold out to big business based in Hartlepool. We now have a massive pile of decomposing waste which will prove in the long term to be a serious health hazard to the
local community.
The Environment agency has various standards which they are supposed to apply to ensure the
safety of the environment but it would appear that they have failed to stick to their own standards when monitoring the site, leaving the local people with a legacy of poisons being emitted in one form or another from this mountain of waste which has been sent to us from far and wide in the pursuit of profit by the absentee owners.
The stench from the tip is predominately as a result of the leakage of landfill gas. This contains predominately methane and carbon dioxide, neither of which smell, but also a proportion of Hydrogen Sulphide (the bad egg smell) and a proportion of organic compounds which both smell and are highly poisonous. Hydrogen Sulphide is considered a cumulative poison which
builds up in animal tissues. The organic compounds have similar properties plus they are linked to birth defects in animals. There is no way this can be acceptable or reasonable, and I believe most other local people will agree.
The operators are said to now be burning the major part of the landfill gas in an enclosed
flare in an attempt to reduce the complaints about the stench. This sounds helpful at first sight but ignores the problems this can cause. Incomplete or uncontrolled combustion of the organic compounds produces dioxins which are among the most poisonous compounds known to man. Only carefully controlled high temperature combustion can minimise (not eradicate) the production of these dioxins. I do not wish to see another Bonnybridge legacy in East Yorkshire. I would prefer our local descendants to have the accepted normal number of fingers and toes etc.
It has been suggested that the Methane is a long term asset as it can be used to generate electricity. While this is true in principle, the use of landfill gas to power an internal combustion engine to drive a generator is recognised as the dirtiest option of using the gas, as the engine has
a significantly worse performance in terms of discharging dioxins than combustion in a boiler where high temperature controlled conditions might be achieved or “cleaning” up the gas by removal of the sulphides and organic products to a standard where it could be injected into a natural gas distribution main and burnt in a dilute manner over a widely dispersed area. The last solution can of course be considered only if safe disposal of the organics and other undesirable content which are removed can be assured and that the gas network is willing to accept the methane/carbon dioxide mixture.