An illegal commercial waste site was established in 2017 within 150m of the nearest residential house. Local authorities ignored requests to close the site down and it continued to operate for 3 years before the Environment Agency organised a raid, which resulted in arrests and criminal prosecutions which have not yet been heard by the courts.

At 2:08 AM on Monday 20th September, loud explosions woke residents up to discover that a huge fire was burning on the illegal waste site. For 3 days and nights, 6 fire engines worked hard and risked their lives to contain the fire. Not a single police officer appeared.

It is not possible by using water alone to extinguish the fires. Therefore the authorities have taken the decision to allow a continued controlled burn. This is resulting in a plume of polluted smoke and fumes drifting across a wide swathe of populated land and farmland. Villages such as Long Bennington, Claypole, Stubton and Fernwood Estate are being affected, as well as any settlements up to 12 miles away (so far). A local resident has used an air quality monitor to record the pollutants in the affected area, which has confirmed extremely dangerous and high levels of volatile organic compounds and particulate matter.

This poses several severe problems including:

• Farmers attempting to grow organic food (the chemicals in the air settling in the soil and on crops can affect the eligibility to label a product as organic, as well as potentially poisoning the crops currently being harvested eg. potatoes).
• Farmers having to work for prolonged periods breathing in toxic fumes.
• Residents with asthma and other health conditions are particularly vulnerable to toxic fumes.
• Healthy residents struggling to breathe, are unable to exercise, and suffering symptoms such as migraines and breathing difficulties.
• Children and babies are also particularly vulnerable to being affected by poisonous fumes.
• Waterways in surrounding areas are being polluted and the poison from the site is seeping into groundwater, potentially poisoning agricultural crops as well as the wildlife.
• Trees in residential properties next door to the site are dying.
• Local residents (especially those living close by to the site) are having to close all windows and doors and stay inside their homes, unable to let pets out of the house.
• Residents are worried about potential long-term health effects of the toxic fumes, which show no signs of receding and were confirmed by the fire service as carcinogenic.
• Residents with land for grazing animals and horses are having to move livestock at a huge cost.

What we are appealing for is an immediate clean-up of the site with bulldozers. This will remove thousands of tons of illegally dumped commercial waste and will extinguish the fires. The only alternative is to continue with a controlled burn, which could last for several months potentially leading to the poisoning and death of wildlife and local residents, especially the elderly, the very young, and those with health complications. We must not forget that we are still currently living through a respiratory disease pandemic.

Please, we are desperate for action now. This is a dire environmental and health crisis.

With enough signatures, we hope that the Minister in charge will release sufficient funds to enable the Environment Agency to clear the site and allow the residents to live a healthy life, and by so doing preserve wildlife and the cleanliness of waterways.