Flusco Landfill

Flusco Landfill is an established landfill site that has been in operation for many decades. Historically, the site was operated by Lakeland Waste Management, who ran the site with relatively low waste inputs in recent years. In Summer 2025, the company was taken over by Seletia (F) Ltd, who hold the environmental permit for non-hazardous waste disposal.

What activities are covered by the environmental permit?

The Environment Agency regulates Flusco Landfill Environmental Permit (EPR/BM5941IH). A copy of the permit can he found here. This permit outlines mandatory conditions for all operations, including waste acceptance, landfill gas management, leachate treatment, and pollution control (especially odour, dust, and litter), alongside requirements for infrastructure and regular environmental monitoring.

Specifically, the permit allows and regulates activities such as:

• Acceptance and Disposal of Non-Hazardous Waste: This is the primary activity, covering the process of receiving, tipping, and managing specified types and quantities of non-hazardous waste.
• Landfill Gas Management: The permit includes conditions for the collection, control, and management of landfill gas generated by the decomposing waste. This is crucial for preventing odours and, in many cases, for generating energy.
• Leachate Management: The permit covers the collection, treatment, and management of leachate (the liquid that drains through the waste) to prevent groundwater and surface water pollution.
• Pollution Control Measures: It mandates the implementation of measures to minimise and control potential pollution, including odours, dust, and litter. This often involves requirements for daily cover of waste and specific operational techniques.
• Site Infrastructure Management: Conditions relate to the construction and maintenance of site infrastructure, such as liners, capping, and gas collection systems, to ensure environmental protection.
• Monitoring and Reporting: The operator is required to conduct regular monitoring of environmental parameters (e.g., air quality, gas levels, leachate levels) and submit reports to the Environment Agency to demonstrate compliance.

The permit dictates how the landfill must be operated to ensure environmental protection, covering everything from the incoming waste to the management of gases, liquids, and overall site integrity, all with the aim of minimising impact on the surrounding community.

The Permit can be found here

In response to concerns from nearby residents the Environment Agency (EA) has taken a range of significant actions:

• Increased Regulatory Scrutiny: The EA has intensified inspections of the landfill, including on-site and utilising drones for site monitoring.
• Enforcement Actions:
  • An Enforcement Notice was issued on 10 October 2025 following site inspections that demonstrated significant non-compliance with permit conditions. Details of this notice can be found here. 
  • The Enforcement Notice requires Seletia (F) Ltd to take specific steps to bring the operations back into compliance and remediate the impacts.
• Improved Operations Management: Seletia (F) Ltd have submitted updated management plans to demonstrate how they intend to run the site and control their operations. We are reviewing the adequacy of this document and requiring further amendments.
• Our Partners: The Environment Agency collaborates with Westmorland & Furness Council for planning and environmental health issues. You can find out more about this below.

In the case of individual sites, the Environment Agency carefully monitors the performance of a landfill site using a wide range of parameters including groundwater, surface water and air monitoring, pollution reports, the operator’s own monitoring and aerial photography. We use all these parameters to determine the compliance of the site and if we have concerns, we require the operator of the site to take steps to resolve them. If the operator of the permitted site does not respond to our concerns, we can carry out our own check monitoring and use a range of enforcement notices to force the operator of the site to take action.

The odour pollution from landfill sites falls into two broad categories:

1. The first is the waste odour. This is caused by fresh waste rapidly decomposing and tends to come from vehicles travelling to and from the site and whilst it is tipped. This is similar to the odours that are contained within a domestic bin. It poses little risk to human health and can be tackled by depositing the waste quickly and covering it with soils called “daily cover”.
2. The second type of odour is landfill gas. This is gas generated by the breakdown of the waste inside the body of the landfill site. Landfill gas is mostly methane and carbon dioxide, which are odourless and colourless. However, landfill gas also contains trace components such as hydrogen sulphide that, even in very small quantities, has a strong smell of rotten eggs, which the human body is very sensitive to. Although the smell caused by the trace levels of hydrogen sulphide gas can be strong and unpleasant, it does not automatically mean that it is harmful. Our sense of smell is very sensitive and we can smell hydrogen sulphide at very low levels.

Environment Agency:

• The primary regulatory for on-site waste disposal through the Environmental Permit -  leading on matters of Landfill Engineering; Waste Volumes and Types; Pollution Control Measures (landfill gas management and leachate management); Emissions and Pest (odour, dust, litter, vermin).
• You can report instances of environmental pollution to us on 0800 80 70 60 or on-line at: Report an environmental problem - GOV.UK
• Our compliance assessment reports will become available to the public from the following link: Environmental Permitting Regulations – Installations

Westmorland & Furness Council:

• The Council is leading on matters relating to Noise; Operational Hours; Highways; Public Rights of Way; Trees and terrestrial Ecology.
• Any issues or concerns in respect of landfill activity that relate to the above matters that the Council is leading upon, or Silverfields Quarry, should be directed to Westmorland and Furness Council’s Minerals and Waste Planning Team via email to MWPlanning@WestmorlandandFurness.gov.uk
• The main current planning permission for landfill operations is 3/16/9011. The planning conditions and plans/documents that comprise this planning permission can be viewed online at: Planning.cumbria.gov.uk/Planning/Display/3/16/9011
• Past, current and any future planning applications relating to this site can also be viewed online at: Planning.cumbria.gov.uk/

We are aware of concerns about waste coming from Scotland to be disposed of in landfills in northern England. The Environmental Permit sets out what waste can be landfilled and how much can be taken there per year. There is no restriction as to where the waste comes from.

A recent review of waste returns data shows that waste received at the site between July and September 2025 was from various locations across the north of England and the midlands.

The Environmental Permit sets the following annual tonnage limits. These are assessed at the end of the year. However, a review of waste inputs does not indicate that this will be exceeded in 2025:

Under Regulation 36 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR), an Enforcement Notice is a formal order issued by the Environment Agency when an operator has contravened; is contravening; or is likely to contravene a condition of their Environmental Permit. It requires steps to be taken by Seletia to return to compliance with the Environmental Permit. A copy of the Regulation 36 Enforcement Notice can be found here

Seletia are required to take steps to comply with the conditions of their Environmental Permit. Seletia has since provided information, which we are currently reviewing. We have continued to carry out on-site inspections. This remains an active matter, and we are unable to provide further comment at this time. (December 2025)

This is currently being investigated by the Environment Agency’s groundwater team. We are not able to comment further at this time. The Environment Agency have the powers to require pollution to be stopped and to require remediation. We will use these powers where necessary. We also have the ability to recover the costs of our own investigations from a polluter and will do so where we can demonstrate fault. (December 2025)

The Environment Agency have no set routine for visits to the landfill. This, along with unannounced inspections, allows us to see the landfill as it is operated, rather than the state of the landfill being prepared for our visit. We also carry out arranged inspections if we need to discuss particular issues with technical staff, for example engineering. In response to public concerns, we have been inspecting more frequently than we normally would, including using drones to give us a good overview of the landfill.

Landfill engineering is a complex and highly regulated discipline. Under the terms of its permit, Seletia must design and construct landfill cells to rigorous standards, as required in guidance on gov.uk. The design and construction proposals must be submitted to the Environment Agency for agreement before works start. Landfill infrastructure is required to be constructed to control emissions such as landfill gas, contaminated water from the waste, called leachate, and surface water – all is subject to inspection and validation by a third party independent engineering inspector. Alongside this independent oversight, Environment Agency officers also visit the site to inspect the engineering works.

At the conclusion of construction, a Construction Quality Assurance (CQA) validation report is submitted to the Environment Agency for review. Only once the Environment Agency’s engineer confirms that the cell has been built in full compliance with the approved design, is Seletia authorised to begin depositing waste in the new cell.

From time to time the Environment Agency has used air quality monitoring units to assist with our regulatory assessment of a landfill. These units can monitor for key atmospheric pollutants that may be released from a landfill. We do not consider the use of one of these units near to Flusco Landfill as being necessary at this time. This is based on our assessment of the current state of the site. However, we will keep this decision under review. (December 2025)

Financial provision is a requirement of the Landfill Directive under The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. Financial provision means you have sufficient funds available for as long as the landfill poses a hazard and to maintain and monitor the site during the aftercare phase. The financial provision is in place for Flusco Landfill. This is in the form of a bond that is reviewed after 3 years.

Landfill operators are required to provide a Technically Competent Manager to run the landfill. The WAMITAB / CIWM Operator Competence Scheme is a regulated qualification framework designed for individuals managing or working at permitted waste sites in England and Wales. The scheme demonstrates that personnel are technically competent to operate in compliance with Environmental Permitting Regulations. There is a Technically Competent Manager in place for Seletia at Flusco Landfill.

Seletia are required to use measures to prevent litter from leaving the landfill. One of the controls for this is mobile litter netting. Litter is collected at the boundary and, where accessible, from beyond the boundary of the site.

On 6th November the Council served a Temporary Stop Notice (TSN) in respect of waste deposition activity as it has reason to believe that the pre-settlement land levels that form part of the approved scheme of the site’s planning permission have been exceeded. The TSN came into effect on Friday 7^th November 2025 and is due to be in force for a six week period. The notice will cease to have effect on 19^th December 2025. It should prevent any further waste being deposited on site during this period and allow the Council time to further investigate current site levels in more detail.

A link to the permit for the Flusco Landfill can be found  here

The latest set of permit conditions can be found  here

A copy of the Regulation 36 Enforcement Notice can be found here

Update 24  December 2025

Key updates for this week

On 19^th December 2025 we issued a Suspension Notice to the operators of Flusco Landfill, Seletia (F) Ltd. This prevents them from accepting new waste at the landfill until certain conditions are met. You can find the Suspension Notice here. Waste has been placed in the landfill above the heights allowed in the Environmental Permit. We will require Seletia to remove this waste.

We have also been notified by the Planning Inspectorate that Seletia (F) Ltd have appealed the Enforcement Notice that we issued on 10^th October 2025. We have notified interested parties, as required, and further details can be found in the notification letter to Dacre Parish Council here.

We have carried out odour surveys in the Newbiggin area and have noted landfill gas odours outside of the landfill. We have also sampled the water environment to understand if there are any impacts. We will not be able to share the details of this as it is subject to legal investigations. However, we will continue to monitor the situation closely including further odour surveys and site inspections.

 Update 9 December 2025

Key updates for this week

In the last few days we have received an increase in reports of odours in the Newbiggin area. Environment Agency officers have been in the community and inspected the landfill site as a reaction to this. Our officers noticed landfill gas odours in Newbiggin and on the landfill. Whilst, at the time of inspection, the odours were at a low level, we appreciate that living with persistent odours can be thoroughly unpleasant. We are addressing the issue with Seletia and we are reviewing their landfill gas management. Information from the community is important to us and we ask that anyone experiencing unacceptable landfill odour report this to us on 0800 80 70 60 or online at Report a smell from a waste facility, industrial site or farm in England - GOV.UK

We will continue with our increased regulatory efforts at the landfill and will require further action from Seletia in order to minimise their impact on the local community.