There are loads of fascinating and interesting things about running a waste AD plant; thinking about all the tonnes of landfill avoided, all the homes powered by either electicity or gas or even just the wonder of a plant that to operate almosts needs no physical intervention, it justs goes about its thing!

However there are some less intriguing bits but none the less are still vital to keeping the whole show on the road and one of these is the site permit.

Many years ago, when cheque books had the numbers ‘19’ stamped into the date code and the millenium bug was a thing of  fear in the distant future, I was a young and impressionable works manager, newly promoted to run a new site I had no experience of. My boss called and complained that the environmental health officer had received odour complaints and was asked about what were the conditions in the permit. I stalled, not being entirely sure where the permit for the site was or what was contained within its dusty pages. Needless to say I scuttled away and read up in a bit of a cold panic, not really understanding the text before me. Now this was a long time ago and I still wake up in a cold sweat when I think of my ignorance at the time.

Now I still don’t profess to being a site permit expert, luckily for everyone I no longer have that responsibility, but what I do know is its importance. Depending on the site they can be very complex documents and what is true to all of them is the importance of following the conditions that are laid out. By not following the permit conditions the Environment Agency can take enforecment action and stop all activity and then prosecute, so following the site permit is critical.

So if you are starting off your AD journey with a new site, its worth putting time and effort into this document to make sure that you can operate in the way laid out and conversly if you are operating a plant and you feel you need some piece of mind, or assistance with permit changes that are on the horizon, Marches can help. We have the delightful & very experienced Lucy, who can come and help you through the entire process including liasing with the EA.

I just wish I had had Lucy around to help me all those years ago!