Proposed Underground Waste Disposal
The Anhydrite Mine Project - Billingham
NPL Estates Ltd, one of the UK’s leading brownfield land management and development companies, has agreed conditional terms with ICI to take over responsibility for the former Anhydrite Mine at Billingham.
The mine ceased to be a working entity in 1971 and was decommissioned in 1978, following which it has been under a management regime undertaken by owners ICI.
Leading Mining Consultants White Young Green entered the mine in September 2007 to assess if the conditions of the mine had deteriorated over the last 30 years. The findings of this report which was received by NPL in February 2008 have shown no significant change. A Presentation Summary of the report together with the Non Technical Summary are available to view on this website via the links below.
It is considered at this stage that the mine could be suitable for the disposal of a variety of materials including inert wastes such as building rubble and certain categories of low-level hazardous waste such as ash from local industrial facilities. Liquid, biodegradable or reactive wastes would not be allowed. Furthermore NPL have entered into a legally binding agreement with ICI that the site would not be used for the types of waste previously considered by Nirex in the 1980s ie nuclear waste. Additional assurances that no nuclear waste would be permitted could be written into any planning agreement from Stockton Borough Council and Environment Agency permit and would be enforceable by the Council hence eliminating this issue permanently.
NPL are now considering the financial and technical viability of the project with specialist mine and environmental consultants. If these reviews are positive NPL will submit a request for Scoping Opinion to Stockton Borough Council. This will make statutory consultees aware that this project is being considered and draw out any questions which would need to be answered before the project could progress. This would assist NPL in determining whether or not to pursue the project which would subsequently require a planning application for change of use, and an IPPC Operating Permit from the Environment Agency prior to any operations on the site commencing. Should these applications be made, they would include comprehensive assessments of the suitability of the proposals and would consider the impact of the development in the area and include statutory and public consultation.
NPL would like to take this opportunity to reassure all interested parties that there are no definitive plans in place to reopen the mine at this point, and that by working closely with the local community we can fully assess the feasibility of any future plans following the various reviews.
