Walleys Quarry
Odours from the Walleys Quarry landfill site have affected residents and businesses across Newcastle-under-Lyme, and parts of Stoke-on-Trent, for several years.
The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for regulating the site, and is monitoring emissions, and you can find out about the action it is taking on its Walleys Quarry information page.
The County Council is working with other partners, including Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and The UK Health Security Agency. In relation to Walleys Quarry, the Borough Council is responsible for the assessment of statutory nuisance, including the presence of odour, dust, noise and pests. More information is available about the Borough Council’s work on its website.
Following the Environment Agency update of 5 October 2023 regarding the measurement of hydrogen sulphide at Walleys Quarry, the following statement was issued jointly by Staffordshire County Council’s Public Health team, the UK Health Security Agency and the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board:
Joint health statement
Joint statement from Staffordshire County Council Public Health, UK Health Security Agency and Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board.
Walleys Quarry Landfill: hydrogen sulphide monitoring
On 5 October 2023, the Environment Agency published about the accuracy of its hydrogen sulphide monitors around the Walleys Quarry landfill site. This means that we cannot rely on this data to assess the risk to people’s health. The risk of long-term health problems is likely to be small but cannot be excluded at this stage. We know that some people continue to experience short term health effects. Advice for residents affected by the odour from landfill gas can be found on the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Staffordshire County Council websites.
Health partners continue to recommend that all appropriate measures are taken to reduce the off-site odours from the landfill site to reduce the health effects experienced in the local community and maintain concentrations in the local area to levels that comply with the long-term guidance value of 2ug/m3 and, therefore, do not pose long term risks to health.
Frequently Asked Questions
For further information, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.