Statement in response to Environment Agency publication of revised air quality data from Walleys Quarry

Leader Alan White said the size and scale of the problems at Walleys Quarry appear to beyond the EA's expertise and capacity.

Alan White, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, said:

The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for regulating Walleys Quarry on behalf of us all and for several years has based its words and actions on flawed readings. 

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and carry on supporting residents as best we can, but this has gone on far too long for us all.

However, given that local councils do not have the expertise or capacity to resolve this problem and the size and scale of it appears beyond the EA, we reiterate our call for urgent and decisive action from the Government to end this.

While the need to resolve the problem is the priority, we firmly believe the Secretary of State should also commission a public inquiry into the EA’s governance of this site to provide residents with answers and to allow lessons to be learned for the future.”

Note to Editors:

Staffordshire County Council has been strongly supporting Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s recent scrutiny committee inquiry into Walleys Quarry.

The county council provided technical and staff support in advance of the two-day inquiry, held in public, and also provided detailed public health evidence to the committee.

The committee was seeking information about the effect on people’s health, asking what opportunities have been missed along the way to resolve the problem, and wanted to know what where the next steps to resolve the issue. It will be reporting its findings later in the year.