The UK Government has been called on to establish an ongoing funding programme to help clear contaminated land affected by illegal waste dumping, amid concerns that local authorities are being left to shoulder the cost of remediation.
The London Assembly Environment Committee has written to Environment Minister Emma Hardy calling for national funding to support the clean-up of the most serious illegal dumping sites across London.
The Committee is currently investigating fly-tipping in the capital and, at its first meeting in July, heard from community groups, waste experts and the Environment Agency about the challenges involved in tackling illegal waste sites.
According to the Committee, Environment Agency representatives told the investigation that the agency can monitor environmental impacts and provide advice to local authorities but has ‘no resources to remediate the sites’, unless directed to do so by Defra.
The Committee highlighted the dump at Launders Lane in Havering, which has effectively been on fire below the surface for ten years, as an example of the long-running problems caused by illegal dumping.
Three years ago it was estimated it would take around £10m to clear the site.
The Committee said recent Government announcements on waste crime, including Environment Agency intervention to remediate several illegal dumping sites, were welcome but it warned that the measures have so far been one-off interventions and that it remains unclear whether additional resources will be made available.
Furthermore, it is pointed out, none of the sites selected for remediation so far have been in London.
The Committee is now calling for an ongoing Government-funded programme, which could be administered through local authorities or the Environment Agency, to support the clean-up of contaminated land caused by illegal dumping.
It argues that the need for Government intervention has become more pressing since the abolition in 2017 of Defra’s Contaminated Land Capital Grants scheme, which previously helped councils meet the costs of remediating contaminated land.
Chair of the London Assembly Environment Committee, Gareth Roberts AM, said: ‘While preventing waste crime and prosecuting offenders must remain a priority, for existing cases it is important that further Government funding is available to support the urgent remediation of the most serious sites, with costs to be recouped from those responsible for causing it wherever possible.
‘We are asking the Minister to make ongoing funding available, either through local authorities or the Environment Agency, to help tackle contaminated land caused by illegal dumping and address its most serious environmental and community impacts.’
Photo: Evan Demicoli
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