PEAT, WASTE & BORROW PITSJane MacDonaldWednesday 21st Oct 09
KEY QUESTIONS1) Why borrow pits?2) What does it have to do with ‘waste’?3) Why am I talking about it today and what relevance does it have for CLAD?
1. Why borrow pits? Borrow pits are required to win rock / aggregate for road and other wind farm infrastructure construction. Restoration of borrow pits to pre-construction ground profile is preferable for habitat restoration and visual / land use amenity purposes.
2. What does it have to do with ‘waste’? One of the principle objectives Site Office of the WFD directive is to minimise impacts to the environment and human health from waste disposal to land. Are we creating landfills in restoring borrow pits? Its all in the interpretation of legal definitions…
DEFINITIONS OF WASTE & DISPOSALWFD WASTE DEFINITION “any substance or object [ ] which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard”. “Products for which the holder has no further use.”WFD DEFINITION OF DISPOSAL Deposit into or on to land, including surface impoundment and specially engineered landfill. Is excavated peat ‘waste’ and is borrow pit restoration ‘waste disposal’? No, because….
A MORE PRAGMATIC CONSTRUCTION PERSPECTIVE?• GENERALLY ACCEPTED PRINCIPLES: Excavated soils used on site, would not generally be regarded as being discarded (i.e. not waste) provided: • They are suitable for that use and require no further treatment • Only the quantity necessary for the specified works is used • Their use is a not a mere possibility but a certainty. The Developer / Contractor has to provide sufficient justification to prove that the materials are not classified as waste in the first place and there use does not pose a risk to human health or the environment. Otherwise, what are the implications?…..
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS IF RESTORATION OF BORROWPITS IS DETERMINED TO BE WASTE MANAGEMENT?• WML exemption will be required for surplus material – however: use constrained by volume and throughput limitations.• PPC license may be required:- Prohibition on liquid disposal EWC excludes peat as inert waste (classified as non-hazardous waste). Separate planning application, EIA and landfill design risk assessments for each borrow pit ‘landfill’ (delay and cost implications) Landfill regs require pre-treatment of wastes (little or no additional environmental benefit in this instance??) Public opposition /perception of ‘landfills’ / landowner lease implications
3) Why am I talking about it today and what relevance does it have for CLAD?• Clearly there is a need for the industry to demonstrate the requirement for restoration of borrow pits and ways of achieving this without endangering human health and the environment.• Can we define best practice in handling and storage of excavated materials, as well as final placement in borrow pits such that C losses are minimised? Is there a need to quantify C losses and environmental impacts for alternative off-site options (landfill disposal, re-use as fuel etc) and on-site uses? Can we demonstrate that restoration of borrow pits is the BPEO? (e.g. through quantification of C losses, ecological monitoring programmes on existing sites etc)