Environmental groups raise alarm over controversial proposed AD plant in Wye catchment
Environmental groups in the River Wye catchment say they are “deeply concerned” that the Environment Agency has granted an environmental permit to a controversial proposed Anaerobic Digester in Herefordshire that doesn't yet have planning permission. The groups are calling on the EA to explain why it has issued a permit and questioning its process and whether it has conducted the appropriate assessments necessary to safeguard the environment.
CPRE Herefordshire, Friends of the River Wye and Save the Wye are also calling on Herefordshire Council and Natural England to carefully scrutinise the project's total environmental impacts as part of the planning process, whilst interrogating the EA's actions.
Nicholas Layton is proposing to build an Anaerobic Digestion unit at Whitwick Manor, between Hereford and Bromyard, which would take around 100,000 tonnes of poultry manure a year alongside apple pomace and liquid wastes, and create natural gas to power thousands of homes.
The Lugg catchment is already in a poor state and suffering ecological decline, as defined by Natural England. Of the 74 sub-catchments in the Wye regularly tested by citizen scientists, the third and fourth most polluted by phosphate are those which sit either side of Whitwick Manor.
Local environmental groups fear the AD may negatively impact the fragile local environment due to the large volumes of manure and other feedstocks going in and fertiliser products coming out. Whilst in theory the input and output from digesters would be subject to environmental regulations not considered within the permit, in reality additional manure and digestate in the Lugg catchment poses a risk of over-application and pollution.
The planning application for the AD plant suggests that some form of novel phosphate-stripping will be included, which the applicant says will create a phosphate product which is easier to export outside the catchment. Yet, even if the technology can be proven to work, the catchment is already overloaded with both nitrate and phosphate and both nutrients contribute to algal blooms and poor ecological health.
AD plants have been responsible for serious pollution events, including gas explosions and catastrophic spills which have caused major fish kills in rivers. The EA previously published a report which chronicled a series of environmental incidents at AD plants which occurred between 2010 and 2018.
Herefordshire Council produced a Habitats Regulations Assessment for the Whitwick Manor development which concluded there would be "an adverse effect on the integrity" of the protected river Wye catchment, and that planning permission "cannot legally be granted”.
Since then the applicant has amended their application and is arguing that the fact that the Environment Agency has issued a permit suggests that the River Wye's Special Area of Conservation will not be affected by the site.
Natural England has previously written to councils in other failing catchments, such as Somerset and Cornwall, raising concerns about AD plants. They worry that their input products, such as manure and maize (specifically grown for digestion), may contribute to water pollution. One letter stated that permitting new AD plants “is likely to unlock land use change which is known to contribute phosphorus and sediment to the catchment watercourses. Natural England advises that the competent authorities should consider new or enlarged AD facilities as simply one aspect of a plan or project of land use change… [and] consider the risk that the development will indirectly increase the amount of phosphates entering the designated site”.
The EA’s decision document for the permit says that it did not consult Natural England before granting the environmental permit.
The EA granted the permit on the 1st August and said it had consulted but received no responses from local councils, organisations or members of the public. Yet the ‘consultation’ was simply a notice on a government website, which the public and local environmental groups knew nothing about. By contrast, hundreds of objections to the development have been submitted to Herefordshire Council via the planning portal demonstrating high public interest, and planning permission is yet to be determined.
In May, the River Wye Nutrient Management Board sent a letter to DEFRA which raised concerns about the inclusion of a few pilot Anaerobic Digesters in its Action Plan for the River Wye. The letter said there are “multiple issues” with AD and stated that “a history of pollution incidents and fish kills locally have not encouraged those who care about the river to see ADs as part of the solution”.
The proposed AD development lies in the very area that has been subject to half a decade of nutrient neutrality restrictions for housing development as a direct result of the poor state of the River Lugg. Since 2019, house builders have been prevented from building any new homes unless they can demonstrate scientific and legal certainty that their development will not increase phosphate in the Lugg catchment at all.
The Herefordshire Construction Industry Lobby Group, representing small local businesses and individuals caught in the housing ban, said "the difference between how the agencies treat housing and industrial agriculture in the Lugg has been a huge shock.”
Official figures from the Environment Agency show that 81% of the phosphorus in the nutrient neutrality zone of the Lugg catchment comes from rural land use, with just 14% coming from sewage plants operated by Welsh Water.
Andrew McRobb, Director of CPRE Herefordshire, said, “We think it’s bad practice for the Environment Agency to issue an environmental permit before planning permission has been determined and we blame the government for this poor process. Previously, the EA issued permits in lock-step with planning and that was much more understandable. The process today could be seen as influential and prejudicial to planning decisions so the government should change it. The EA said it had received no responses to its consultation on the permit, but we and the public didn’t even know about it. Granting the permit is premature and seems to ride roughshod over our democratic process of determining these applications in the round, with proper scrutiny and local expertise. Given the considerable concerns about the health of the Lugg catchment, Natural England’s downgrading of its ecological health and the restrictions on the building industry, we are mystified as to how the permit was granted”.
Tom Tibbits, Chair of Friends of the River Wye, said, “We can’t understand why the Environment Agency has granted an Environmental Permit to a development that will concentrate high volumes of poultry manure in the most sensitive part of the River Lugg catchment. We’re deeply concerned. Given the history of AD plants and pollution incidents, as documented by the Environment Agency themselves, they of all people should have good reason to treat this proposal with exceptional caution. There is a very real risk of a catastrophic pollution event in the Lugg as a result of plant malfunction or operator error. Furthermore, the cumulative impact of the development will not have been considered by the EA in the permitting process. Failure to consider the cumulative impact is why so many polluting developments were allowed in the first place and this approach must change. We feel extremely let down by those who should be protecting our environment, and call on Natural England and Herefordshire Council to take heed of all the evidence suggesting this could be a disaster. Surely the precautionary principle must apply?”
Note to Editors
Citizen Science data: Over the last year, the “Lodon - source to conf R Frome” sub-catchment has had an average phosphate level of 0.61 parts per million, while “Withington Marsh Bk - source to conf R Little Lugg” has had an average phosphate level of 0.55ppm. These are around seven times the average levels measured in the River Wye (0.085ppm). See this table, or here for the full data set.
For further information, email press@friendsoftheriverwye.org.uk