Wormtech closes following environment permit loss

Waste management company Wormtech has announced that it has closed, three months after losing its environment permit.

A statement running on Wormtech’s website says that despite ‘numerous efforts’ to find a solution, the company has had to close, making 19 staff redundant. The company urges that notice was issued ‘because of a RISK to the underlying water rather than because of an actual incident’.

The Environment Agency Wales (EAW) suspended Wormtech’s environment permit in July this year, when E. coli and salmonella were detected in leachate found leaking through the wall of its composting facility.

By suspending its environment permit, the EAW prevented Wormtech from processing any more waste until its buildings were properly sealed.

Ever since, the EAW has grown “increasingly concerned” that Wormtech has not been complying with its permit.  To prevent possible contamination of watercourses, it has begun to remove the remaining estimated 20,000 tonnes of green and food waste left on site. A full cleanup of the Wormtech site is estimated to cost up to £1 million.

An EAW spokesperson said: “To make sure the environment is protected, we are managing leachate levels on the site by removing it ourselves, although this remains the responsibility of the company. Our investigation into the company continues and we are considering what further action we will take.”

Public Health Wales (PHW) has so far confirmed that the leachate levels do not pose any threat to public health.

Jackie Powell, a director of the recycling firm, told Resource: "I sympathise with the EA having to take the leachate off the site but... if they had not totally cut off our income we would still be able to do this and the works that they required. We offered to carry out these works and totally clear up the site within the next 6-9 months but they rejected this proposal."

This is not the first time that Wormtech has come under scrutiny for its treatment of the surrounding environment.  In 2010 it received an enforcement notice from the EAW after leachate was found leaking onto the adjacent MOD training site.

A year later, the company was ordered to pay a fine of £35000, (£10,000 for polluting the nearby Nedern Brook, forcing the military base to close for three months and £25,000 for incorrect and later paperwork).

Wormtech’s food waste contract with Monmouthshire council has now been terminated and waste firm Viridor will be taking over on a temporary basis. Monmouthshire council has reassured residents that food waste collections will not be affected by the closure and a new, long-term contractor is expected to be appointed in the new year.

The council is now attempting to recover funds from the liquidated company.