The Pollution Control Section currently oversees seven closed sites with respect to gas and leachate control. Landfill gas is actively controlled at three of these.

 

Managing Closed Landfill Sites

Landfill sites have previously been used for the disposal of domestic and industrial waste;they may have been quarries or natural low laying land.The site may have had gas control measures installed, be ‘capped’ - sealed with layers of clay and top soil - and  restored to as close as possible to its natural appearance. Bacteria in the buried waste cause decomposition, producing landfill gas containing methane and carbon dioxide. A way of managing the gas is to pump it out and burn it by a process called 'flaring'. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and burning greatly reduces its impact on Global Warming. Flaring occurs at three of our sites, the remaining sites produce an insufficient amount of gas. However, these sites are still regularly monitored. 

Carcroft

  • located to the north of Doncaster
  • covers an area of approximately 9 ha
  • visited regularly by the Pollution Control Section
  • as a licensed landfill it was operated by South Yorkshire County Council between November 1976 and March 1993, taking all types of household and industrial waste 
  • after the site was closed and sealed a positive landfill gas extraction system, incorporating a flare unit, was built
  • from 2006 the surface of the site has been ultilised as an off-road motorcycle park ,initially operated by Doncaster Council but now operated by a private company

Edlington

  • site based around an old brickyard quarry to the west of Doncaster
  • approximately 7 ha
  • monitored and visited regularly by the Pollution Control Section
  • the site was licensed for use between 5/9/1979 and 11/3/1993, these dates are probably similar to the usage dates
  • it was operated by South Yorkshire County Council
  • there is a public footpath around the southern boundary which allows access to a fishing pond and connects Edlington to Conisbrough

Kearsley Lane

  • approx. 3.5 ha
  • unlike many other landfill sites in the region it was never a quarry - information from Conisbrough and Denaby Main Heritage Group says it was formed as an area of low ground, when a turnpike (toll road) was built between Clifton Hill and Hill Top in 1776
  • to level up the land/turnpike, material for this would have been taken from the site that is now the closed landfill
  • although it was used as a waste disposal site (landfill) by Conisbrough Rural District Council from the 1950s up to the mid 1960s, there is no information with respect to the type of waste buried there

Mexborough

  • the site is located off Pastures Road
  • approximately 8 ha
  • waste disposal first took place in this old clay quarry, owned and operated by the Yorkshire Brick Co. of Stairfoot, Barnsley, in November 1978
  • it became one of the landfills operated by South Yorkshire County Council and then by Doncaster Council until closure in the early 1990s
  • it has an active gas extraction system of 34 extraction wells linked to two flare units located within separate compounds. If sufficient methane is being generated gases are burnt off by the flare units. Thirty five gas monitoring boreholes connected to an analyser unit are installed and are checked by the Pollution Control section. Every Monday and Friday the gas levels from all the installations on the system are recorded and submitted to the Environment Agency

Springwell

  • site, in Balby, between Springwell Lane and Tickhill Road
  • approximately 18 ha
  • it is a combination of two separate landfill operations. The Tickhill Road site was used by Doncaster County Borough Council between 31/1/1953 and 31/11/1971 and the Clayfield Estate site between 12/2/1981 and 1/7/1981 by South Yorkshire County Council, for the disposal of household and general waste
  • an active gas extraction system with 37 extraction wells surrounds the perimeter of the site. The wells are linked to a flare unit within a compound. If sufficient methane is being generated, gases are burnt off by the flare unit which runs through an ignition sequence every 10 hours.  Thirty eight gas monitoring boreholes are installed and connected to an analyser unit which is monitored by the Pollution Control section who visit the site at regular intervals.

The site is split into four sections (North, South, Middle, and Recycling Centre) divided by fencing:

  • north section is public open space with limited leisure facilities including a single football goal post and a play area for children
  • south section is also used by the public for dog walking and other leisure activities
  • middle section is used for the grazing of horses and is not open to public access

Wheatley Hills

  • former landfill site in Wheatley Hills
  • approximately 10 ha
  • it was used for the disposal of waste from the area, by Doncaster Rural District Council between, 1953 and 1967, and landscaped between 1967 and 1968
  • it has a gas discharge system which consists of 16 extraction wells, constructed around the site, linked to a central discharge unit sited in a compound. Carbon dioxide is the gas of concern.
  • the site is split into two sections, one used for housing (3 ha), the other (7 ha) for playing fields which include, football pitches, changing facilities, a tarmaced area and children’s play area with swings and climbing frames

Snakey Wood

  • this site is the former railway cutting from Crookhill Road to Clifton Hill 
  • first deposit was in Mar 1973,licence issued Nov 1976, licence surrendered Mar 1993
  • subsequently several gas monitoring points have been installed

 

  

For further information

 

Last updated: 05 December 2023 08:44:49

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