SEPA revokes Scotgen (Dumfries) Limited’s permit
Written by Kevin Rennie on August 28, 2013
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued a notice of revocation to Scotgen (Dumfries) Limited, the operators of the Dargavel energy from waste plant, to remove their permit.
The revocation notice was issued to the company on Friday 23 August 2013 for the following reasons:
- Persistent non-compliance with the requirements of the permit.
- Failure to comply with an enforcement notice.
- Failure to maintain financial provision and resources to comply with the requirements of the permit.
- Failure to recover energy with a high level of efficiency.
As well as revoking the permit, the revocation notice requires that certain steps are taken to avoid pollution and to return the site to a satisfactory state. This includes a requirement for the waste to be removed. At this time, and until the effective date is reached, the permit conditions and the Enforcement Notice issued on 26 July are still in force.
The Revocation Notice comes into effect on 23 September 2013 and can be withdrawn at any time before that date as stated in the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000.
Scotgen (Dumfries) Limited is entitled to appeal to the Scottish Ministers against the Notice. If there is an appeal the revocation notice would be set aside until the appeal had been determined. This would mean that the plant could carry on operating until the Scottish Ministers make a decision.
Ian Conroy, SEPA’s Technical Support Manager in the South West, said:
“SEPA recognises the importance of plants like this as part of the overall mix of facilities and services that will have a role in delivering a Zero Waste Scotland.
“Since the plant come into operation we have provided support and assistance to Scotgen (Dumfries) Limited including affording them considerable time and opportunity to demonstrate that this facility can meet the Best Available Techniques, and the specific requirements of European Directives designed to protect the environment. Unfortunately despite this, they have not done so.
“The facility started operations more than four years ago, and in that time has never achieved a level of compliance which would give SEPA any degree of confidence that future operation would be any different. The facility has consistently failed to meet any reasonable expectation of environmental performance and the predicted level of energy recovery at approximately 3% is particularly disappointing and unsatisfactory.
“SEPA has taken this serious and unusual action of revoking the permit following careful consideration and assessment of the regulatory options available.”
