Dear resident,

 

As you will no doubt be aware, NPL Estates Limited, through its subsidiary NPL Waste Management, is currently considering a proposal to utilise the former ICI Anhydrite Mine for the disposal of low-hazard dry waste, subject to planning and regulatory approvals.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of important planned mine inspection work that is due to take place in the next few months on the Billingham site.

 

The work is designed to assess whether the mine, owned by ICI and capped in 1978, is in a suitable condition for use as a long term disposal facility.

 

Preparatory works ahead of a detailed inspection are planned to start shortly with the inspection likely to take place in September.

 

Specialist mining engineers and scientists will spend a week examining the mine on foot and taking samples of rock. No vehicles or heavy equipment will be taken into or used in the mine during the inspection.

 

However, before the inspection can begin, the concrete caps over the two shafts within the Billingham site boundary first need to be removed and temporary head works installed.

 

This preparatory and restoration work is expected to take around two months. Additional fencing and round-the-clock security will be maintained at the shaft heads during the whole period of the site work. The Mines Rescue organisation will provide expertise and equipment to provide safe access to the mine. On completion of the inspection, the shafts will be re-capped and the site restored to its current condition. 

 

The inspection will give us the information we need to establish whether our proposal is feasible or not from a technical perspective.

 

I would like to stress that we have absolutely no intention of reopening the mine permanently at this point and we will work closely with the local community to assess the feasibility of any future plans once the technical review is complete.

 

With more than 100 miles of tunnels within the mine it would be impossible to inspect it all on foot within the planned timescale so we are focusing on those areas inspected before it closed in order to establish whether they are in the same physical condition.

 

At the request of Frank Cook, the MP for Stockton North, NPL Estates and ICI have held several meetings with Kevin Pitt and a number of Billingham residents since the announcement was first made and information on the overall proposal and progress towards the mine inspection has subsequently been fed back to the Billingham Partnership Board and officers of Stockton Borough Council.

 

A report of the inspection findings will be prepared by consultants coordinating the work and shared with the planning and relevant regulatory authorities including Stockton Borough Council, The Environment Agency and HM Mines Inspectorate. The agreement of these bodies would be required before any permanent re-opening could take place.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and if you would like to know more about NPL Estates please visit our website www.nplestates.com or telephone (01642) 212385.

 

Simon Towers

Managing Director

NPL Estates Limited

105 West George Street

Glasgow G2 1PB