Scottish Power and Sepa Join Forces to Break the Law
Wed., December 28, 2005. 09:56.
Government watchdog and energy company agree to ignore law on burning sewage at Longannet
Today, 28th December, is the deadline for Scottish Power and Scottish Water to stop burning half of Scotland's waste sewage sludge at Longannet power station. But rather than seek alternatives and uphold the law, Scottish Power with the blessing of the Scottish Executive's environmental watchdog, SEPA, have decided to just break the law and carry on burning around half of Scotland's sewage waste. Greens say this reinforces the need for a full strategy for how Scotland deals with its waste sludge.
The astonishing collaboration between a company and a government watchdog directly ignores a court ruling from last year. A court ruling in December 2004 ordered that after the 28th December this year, Longannet is no longer allowed to burn the 54,000 tonnes of sewage it handles every year - in order to comply with EU regulations.(1)
The company stated today that: "ScottishPower and Sepa have reached agreement that co-firing [burning of sludge] is currently the best practical option for the immediate future while a longer term solution is sought." Greens called for more urgent action to develop a long term sustainable solution.
Greens say that Scottish Water is unlikely to have a proper strategy in place till at least 2010 and the government is completely unprepared with no long term plan to deal with the problem sustainably. They say that checks to ensure safe application to land are inadequate and that there are significant concerns over contamination with toxic substances . They are calling on urgent action to improve management and treatment, and have been pressing the Environment Minister for some time. (2)
Mark Ruskell MSP, Green Environment Speaker and Deputy Convener of the Parliament's Environment and Rural Development Committee said: "The Scottish Executive's hands-off approach to getting a grip on Scotland's sewage disposal problem is unacceptable, we are not only breaking the law but are sleepwalking into an environmental crisis. The Executive urgently needs a strategy to deal with the vast amounts of sludge that will start backing up soon. Disposal out at sea is banned, and there are pollution worries about burning it and spreading it on land, that leaves a huge problem of where to put it. Digging sludge into contaminated land such as old coalfields and forestry land makes sense, but we don't have regulations in place to make sure that the quality of the sludge is good enough or that it is applied in a way that doesn't smell or cause pollution to rivers.
"Ultimately our sewage system is a mess because it mixes up industrial and domestic waste so it's difficult to separate out the pollution. There are ways to make sludge into a useful fertiliser that could be used on farmland, forestry or on contaminated land but we don't appear to have the capacity in place or the right strategy to dispose of the stuff. If we are not careful we could be heading for an environmental nightmare with no sensible option for dealing with the waste that were are all creating, it can't just disappear with a magic wand."
An independent report presented to Green MSPs by a Dr Ian Tennant provides an overview of the disposal of sewage sludge and highlights that regulations for the spreading of sewage sludge - often entirely untreated - on non-agricultural land do not require testing of sludge for pathogenic micro-organisms or for potentially toxic elements including heavy metals. Remarkably, neither SEPA nor anyone else is required to perform field inspections before or after the application of sludge.
The report outlines long-term solutions to the problems posed by the current sewerage system - including better separation at the source. This could involve modification or redesign of the systems in place or alternatively a complete reform of human waste management. The latter could greywater purification systems and separate water-based biological systems for cleaning polluted wastewater from industrial processes.
Notes
1. Background detail on Scotland's sewage problem
Scottish Water produces more than 110,000 tonnes of sewage sludge each year, and has a duty under EU law to utilise the material beneficially wherever possible.
- 48% is converted to a fuel and used in electricity generation (all to Longannet)
- 27% is applied to non-agricultural land
- 23% is applied to agricultural land
- 2% is disposed of to landfill
The practice of applying sludge to land has increased considerably since 1998. This will be set to rise should the outlet at Longannet Power Station close. Currently, all the sludge from Glasgow, approximately 54,000 tonnes, is transported to the Daldowie Sludge Treatment Centre near Uddingston where it is dried and converted into pellets. The pellets are sent to Longannet Power Station near Kincardine for co-combustion to generate electricity.
This process has been regulated by SEPA under a Pollution Prevention and Control Permit to control emissions from this plant. However, in Dec 2004 Lord Reed refused to grant the declarator sought by Scottish Power that waste derived fuel, namely dried sewage sludge pellets, is not waste. It was considered that sludge is sufficiently hazardous for it not to be given an exemption. The judgement does not require that Scottish Power immediately stop burning the sewage sludge pellets at Longannet. Scottish Power has the option to upgrade the Longannet Power Station to meet the requirements of the Waste Incineration Directive. If it chooses not to upgrade, then the requirements of the Directive are such that Scottish Power will require to discontinue burning waste by 28 December 2005.
2. Answers to recent questioning of the Minister in the Parliament:
Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that Scottish Water has a plan in place to dispose safely and lawfully of sewage that will not be pelletised and burned at Longannet power station after 28 December 2005. (S2O-7644)
The Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development (Rhona Brankin): The processes used to handle, treat and dispose of sewage sludge are operational matters for Scottish Water, and, where relevant, its public-private partnership and private finance initiative contractors. It is for Scottish Water and its contractors to treat and/or dispose of sludge in line with the relevant regulations and for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to enforce those regulations. Scottish Water is preparing a sludge strategy, and has commissioned consultants to work on it. The strategy will include a strategic environmental assessment.
Chris Ballance: Scottish Water has problems treating the sludge that it has to deal with at present. The closure of Longannet to sludge from the end of this year will double the amount of sludge that Scottish Water has to deal with. Scottish Water, by its own estimates, will not have the necessary resources to do so before 2010-2014. What is the minister's plan?
Rhona Brankin: I do not intend to comment on the Longannet case, given that there is still the possibility of an appeal. However, I note that the sludge at Longannet comes from works operated under a PPP contract. The point of PPP contracts is that the contractor assumes a risk, and he is entitled to make his arrangements within the law to deal with that risk. An appeal is still outstanding; whether to pursue it is a matter for ScottishPower. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to assume both that ScottishPower wishes to meet its regulatory and contractual obligations and that SEPA will enforce the environmental regulations. ScottishPower is discussing with SEPA and my officials the new regulatory situation that will exist after 28 December.
Contact the Scottish Greens' press team on 07909 933 074.