£200k budgeted for tanks to collect polluted Derbyshire landfill run-off

The four new tanks will collect leachate, or contaminated water, seeping from closed landfill sites in Crich and Glapwell at a cost of £50k each, and were approved by Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Environment Councillor Carolyn Renwick.

A report stated: “Landfill leachate is a highly polluting liquid waste which is produced in landfills and poses a risk to the environment.

“As it is generated, the leachate is extracted by pipework and pumped to on site tanks and stored.”

It went onto explain that the water collected was not suitable to be disposed of in the sewer, so had to be contained in the storage units until it could be taken away by tanker truck and treated elsewhere.

The new units will hold 25,000 litres of fluid each and replace existing storage tanks that have reached their capacity.

The equipment will be funded from the council’s Waste Management revenue budget and place departmental reserves and the tendering process will include the design, manufacture and testing of the new tanks, transport to the sites and installation, and removal of old tanks.