Resumed tipping at Cwmrhydyceirw Quarry will cause major nuisance for local residents predicts AM

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 30th Jun 2008

Peter Black, Lembit Opik MP and Helen Ceri Clarke at Cwmrhydyceirw Quarry

The decision to allow tipping to resume at Cwmrhydyceirw Quarry will cause nuisance and danger to local residents the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black, has said.

Responding to the announcement by the Environment Agency that they are not in a position to refuse the application and will be issuing a permit for landfilling at the Morriston Quarry, Mr. Black said that lorry movements, noise, smells and dust will hit the surrounding residential area and local schools hard.

"The last time domestic waste was deposited in this Quarry was in the 1980s," said Mr. Black. "At that time local residents suffered badly from infestations of flies, noise and nuisance from constant heavy lorry movements and appalling smells. It is also the case that nobody fully knows what was placed in the Quarry and there are strong suspicions that there are up to 100 tonnes of hazardous substances buried there.

"Before the new operator can start tipping he will have to dig out the existing material, re-line the quarry and put it back in place. That work has the potential to reopen the problems from the 1980s. There are also questions as to whether the re-lining work is viable and as to whether the watercourses can be protected from pollution emanating from the waste."

Local Welsh Liberal Democrat campaigner, Helen Ceri Clarke added: "If tipping is allowed to resume then residents will have to suffer over twenty heavy lorries visiting and leaving the site each day. This is a residential area and there are a number of schools situated in the vicinity of the site. The dangers posed by such vehicle movements are unacceptable. This decision cannot be accepted by local residents or their representatives. We will be using the consultation period to argue against the granting of this permit in the strongest possible terms."