The Trecatti site is now under local scrutiny

After Nantygwyddon's closure, household waste from Rhondda Cynon Taff has been sent to Biffa's Trecatti tip in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil - one of Europe's largest tips.

The site is licensed to receive "special, difficult and hazardous waste."

However, local residents claim to have suffered from fly infestation, foul smells and increased dust in the air.

The deadline for health compensation claims expired at 1600GMT on Friday, after a High Court ruling in London in October

Lead solicitors Hugh James Ford Simey have revealed 280 claims were made against the operators of the Trecatti site.

Agency officials have refused to comment until Wednesday, 23 January, when they are to give the Welsh Assembly more information on the Nantygwyddon case.

Before the Trecatti deadline, the Welsh Assembly pledged an extra �1m to the agency to help monitoring at landfill sites and incinerators over the next two years.

Agency criticised

The agency was one of the bodies criticised in the inquiry on the tip, which said the facility should never have been located at the site," he said.

But report author David Purchon agreed with Mr Dalton, saying more should have been done.

Why have a licensing procedure if you don't take the power given you?

David Purchon, report author

"I think the site should have been closed to the receipt of waste when it wasn't being operated in accordance with the licence.

"After all, why have a licensing procedure when you can revoke or suspend a licence if you don't take the power the legislators have given you?

"The puzzling thing is that the site was allowed to operate by a company fast-running out of business and money."

But he said agency files showed the body had recognised problems and had taken the administrator to court to force further investment at the site.

"The puzzling thing is that the site was allowed to operate by a company fast-running out of business and money.

Residents protested over Nantygwyddon

"Clearly, the deficiencies in the site were recognised in the site by the Environment Agency staff and ultimately they took enforcement action and took the administrator to court to force further investment."

Residents at Trecatti, which is licensed to receive "special, difficult and hazardous waste," claim to have suffered from fly infestation, foul smells and increased dust in the air.

In 1994, concerns were initially raised with Environmental Health regarding the site when local residents complained of health problems, such as runny noses and burning eyes.

Lead solicitors in the case had appealed for people to come forward before the deadline if they had been affected by the site.

But the Trecatti Action Group (TAG) is also pushing for an investigation into the case by the Welsh Assembly.

In August 2001, government-backed research published in the British Medical Journal found a 1% higher risk of birth defects in babies born near landfill tips.