Two major waste fires at sites in Wales and Scotland since Thursday night (2 March) have now been brought under control.
The fires hit Siteserv Recycling’s waste storage facility in Llandow in the Vale of Glamorgan, and Japanese Auto Parts’ scrapyard in Glasgow.
A plume of smoke from the scrapyard could be seen across Glasgow yesterday afternoon Picture: @BrianCsit
Natural Resource Wales has today decided to suspend Siteserv’s environmental permit for the facility, to prevent any further build-up of waste.
Siteserv
South Wales Fire & Rescue Service was called to reports of a fire at Siteserv’s Triple Crown House waste storage facility on the Llandow Estate on Thursday night.
According to Vale of Glamorgan council, the facility is permitted to store various forms of non-hazardous household, commercial and industrial waste.
Over the weekend, the Fire Service has continue to work with the site owners, Natural Resources Wales, Public Health Wales and the council to bring the blaze under control.
As well as waste storage, the site offers a ‘substantial’ fuel storage and lorry wash facility. Siteserv moved its head office to the site in 2014.
Public Health Wales has urged householders in the area to keep doors and windows closed due to ‘acrid’ smoke from the site, and have advised the waste materials alight do not contain asbestos.
A Fire Service spokesperson said: “Our crews are monitoring the fire and will do so over the coming days to ensure that the incident is contained. We are advising local businesses and residents to keep their windows and doors closed as a precaution. Liaison between partner agencies and the site owners will also be ongoing.”
NRW
Natural Resource Wales has meanwhile taken measures to suspend the site’s permit today, to “prevent more waste adding to the volume on site’ and to ‘minimise further risks of serious pollution”.
The Siteserv facility, which processes an estimated 150,000 tonnes of waste each year, was subject to a previous fire in November 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).
“Whilst we are unsure of the source of the fire, we are working with both the fire service and police to establish possible causes.”
Siteserv Recycling
A statement issued by Siteserv yesterday noted: “Whilst we are unsure of the source of the fire, we are working with both the fire service and police to establish possible causes. In the meantime, the management team has implemented contingency plans and we are operating ‘business as usual’.”
Glasgow
Another large fire has hit Japanese Auto Parts’ scrapyard in Helen Street in the Govan area of Glasgow yesterday.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service received reports of a ‘significant fire’ at 4.24pm which involved a quantity of waste tyres and a number of vehicles.
At its height, around 50 firefighters were on the scene to tackle the blaze. The incident was scaled down this morning and a single appliance now remains on-site.
Station Manager Gregg McKearney, who is the incident commander, said: “Our crews have worked tirelessly to bring this fire under control. Firefighters remain at the scene as they carry out dampening down work and ensure the safety of the public.”
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, Japanese Auto Parts could not be reached for comment.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
