Landfill campaigner calls for judicial review

A campaigner who said fumes from a landfill site near her home had affected the health of her young son has launched legal action against the Environment Agency (EA).

Rebecca Currie said she had applied for a judicial review against the government agency over its handling of the Walleys Quarry site in Silverdale, Staffordshire.

The EA served a closure notice on the site in November, which had been at the centre of a legal row over emissions, smell, and its impact on local residents.

The BBC has approached the EA for comment.

In a statement Ms Currie said it was the government agency's "fault that the pollution has continued for so long" and that the site still "reeked over Christmas".

The closure notice meant that the site could no longer accept new waste deliveries.

Ms Currie, who had previously taken legal action over the matter, added that the problem extended beyond a "bad smell" and said the pollution from the site was still affecting her son.

"Mathew's consultant has again reported that the pollution from Walleys Quarry is shortening Mathew's life – it's killing him.

"They [the EA] have had and continue to have a duty to protect the health of local people.

"Their failure to take effective action to protect us, and especially vulnerable people in the Silverdale area like Mathew, is a breach of our human rights", Ms Currie added.

She said although the community of Silverdale were pleased that the site had been closed, the quarry's pollution continued to "blight our lives".

The EA previously said their decision to issue a closure notice demonstrated their "commitment" to the local community.

It added: "[we are] doing all we can to resolve the problem of fugitive landfill gas emissions from the site".

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