Exclusive: Leeds waste firm given warning over ‘toxic fumes’ after safety concerns about fire risks
A COMPANY which handles hazardous waste in Leeds has received a string of official safety warnings – with concerns about the potential for “toxic fumes” being generated in the event of a fire, The Yorkshire Post can reveal.
Waste management firm WasteCare Limited operates from a number of UK locations, including a hazardous waste transfer station at Valley House, in East Leeds.
Documents released by the Environment Agency (EA) to this newspaper under Freedom of Information laws have revealed multiple permit breaches at the East Leeds site, starting in 2020 and including what inspectors described as a “serious breach” of operating procedures.
WasteCare has not commented despite multiple requests from The Yorkshire Post to do so.
An EA spokesperson said it had found WasteCare in breach of its permit on “multiple occasions”. They added: “Our officers issued warnings in response to these permit breaches and have required the operator to make improvements. We identified clear action to take which has led to improvements in the operator’s stock control systems and operational procedures.
“No pollution incidents or impacts to the environment have occurred as a consequence of the permit breaches, but we take the breach of an environmental permit very seriously and we will use enforcement where necessary.”
EA reports described risks including toxic fumes being released into the environment and gas cylinders “missiling” – or being projected into the air – should a fire occur.
In December 2022, an inspector wrote: “There were a significant number of IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Containers) of flammable waste on site. The flammable cabinet on site is inaccessible and there is no pedestrian or fork lift access between the IBCs.
“In addition, there is insufficient separation between flammable wastes and other wastes including batteries. This is a serious breach of your operating procedures. In the event of a fire it would not be possible for the Fire and Rescue Service to access the site to fight the fire. Toxic fumes would be released to the environment in the event of a fire involving this type of waste.
“The lack of access of for Fire Service is likely to result in delayed extinction of the fire and therefore increased risk of significant pollution to the environment.”
Similar warnings were also repeated in reports from January 2023 and July 2023.
In July 2023, an inspector wrote: “There were many gas cylinders not being stored in cages and the quantity on site exceeded the 40m3 capacity shown on the site plan. Some gas cylinders were in open containers which could pose a risk of missiling in the event of a fire. There were wooden pallets situated next to the gas cylinder storage which could spread fire, if occurred.”
A subsequent report in August 2023 described all gas cylinders being stored within cages.
In July 2023, concerns were raised about incorrectly labelled and unlabelled containers of waste. Shredded oil/grease/ink packaging was also marked as non-hazardous, despite a label which showed hazard codes. The report added: “Another example shows a drum which was hissing at the top and had a blank label. The operator was not sure of the contents.”
Wider safety improvements were noted in later reports. The FoI response covered 2020 to 2024, with the last reported breach in this period occuring in August 2023.