Lewes MP and Lib Dem Shadow Environment Secretary Norman Baker has today backed a Commons motion calling for urgent Government action on the disposal of hazardous waste. From July, co-disposal of hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste will no longer be permitted at landfill sites; however the Government has yet to publish the clear treatment standards which industry must then meet. The issue has aroused a great deal of concern amongst environmentalists and prompted Norman and many of his fellow Lib Dem MPs to table a Commons motion calling for urgent Government action in order to avert a serious environmental disaster.
Speaking about the motion Norman comments:
"I am very concerned that although this country is finally getting the legislation to deal with the serious environmental problem posed by industries dumping hazardous waste in landfill sites, we have yet to see the Government provide clear guidance to industry on precisely what standards they must meet.
"I am very concerned about the environmental implications of this. These new standards come into force in July and yet our level of capacity to adequately treat hazardous waste to meet the new requirements is far from sufficient. Indeed, the higher standards will see the number of eligible disposal sites plummet from 218 to an estimated 37, with a disproportionate number of sites becoming ineligible in the South-East.
"This is a completely unacceptable situation to be in - particularly in view of the fact that the Government have known about the implementation date for almost four years and yet they have shown little progress to date in giving industry the necessary guidance or in providing the Environment Agency with a sufficient level of support. If we are to avert an environmental disaster the Government must now urgently get a grip on the situation and show the clear leadership that is required."
ENDS
A full transcript of the motion backed by Norman is attached
EDM 615 CAPACITY FOR HANDLING HAZARDOUS WASTE
That this House notes that the Government has known since 1999 that from July co-disposal of hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste will no longer be permitted at landfill sites; that the Government has failed to publish precise treatment standards for hazardous waste required from July which the industry needs in order to meet the requirements; is concerned that there will be insufficient treatment capacity and an expected fall in the number of eligible disposal sites from 218 to 37; believes that further time has been wasted in dealing with this problem by setting up a hazardous waste forum which took a year to identify issues which were known already; anticipates a rise in environmental crime resulting from lack of facilities particularly in the South East of England; agrees with Sir John Harman, Chairman of the Environment Agency, who in his speech on hazardous waste on 23rd October 2003 to the All Party Sustainable Waste Group said that 'Government needs to provide industry and regulators with clear leadership'; and calls upon the Government to address the problem of hazardous waste as a matter of extreme urgency and to ensure that the Environment Agency allows sufficient resources to deal with this and to tackle the increase in environmental crime which can be expected as a result of failure to manage this problem.
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