Supersized dump fire risk report kept from public

Campaigners and locals living near England's biggest illegal waste sites want to know why fire risks at one dump have led to it being cleared at a cost of millions of pounds while others remain untouched.

They are calling for the release of a fire risk assessment that caused the Environment Agency to decide to clear the Kidlington site in Oxfordshire in an "exceptional" step costing more than £9m.

But Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (OFRS) has refused a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the BBC to publish it, saying that doing so could put public safety at risk.

Baroness Sheehan, chairwoman of the House of Lords' environment committee, said the refusal was "extremely disappointing".

Baroness Sheehan, who is due to raise the issue in a Lords debate on Thursday, called for the report into the 21,000-tonne site to be made public, telling the BBC: "Local residents are already aware of concerns about the public health, environmental and fire risks of the site, so I cannot understand the reasons why this FOI has been refused."

OFRS said the information requested by the BBC contained a "detailed operational fire risk assessment" that contained highly sensitive information including the location of thermal hotspots, detailed analysis of how fires could start and escalate and tactical firefighting considerations.

Disclosing the information "would, more likely than not, adversely affect public safety", it said.

It added that disclosure would also be "likely to adversely affect the council/OFRS' ability to conduct effective regulatory investigations and enforcement action".

It refused to release a redacted version of the assessment, saying that would leave "little or no meaningful information while still posing a residual risk of harm".

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Environment Agency (EA) said that the risk assessment had "highlighted the rapidly escalating fire risks at the Kidlington site with the potential to close the A34 major highway and impact key electrical supplies".

"This meant we had to take the exceptional decision to clear the site as soon as possible," she added.

Four people have been arrested so far in relation to the ongoing investigation into the dumping of waste at the site.

Last month, a BBC investigation revealed there were more than 500 illegal tips across England, including at least 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

There is concern among people living close to other such sites that only the Kidlington site is being cleared up by the EA when others also pose a fire and environmental risk.

Charlie Coats has been campaigning for the EA to take action over a huge waste site in Over, Gloucestershire, which is close to a busy main road and at the back of a popular countryside park and farm shop.

Fires regularly break out at the dump which contains thousands of tonnes of waste.

Coats, who is chairman of Highnam Parish Council, said that while action was being taken over the Oxfordshire site, his council had "still not received anything other than a cursory acknowledgement" of its formal complaint to the EA, which, he said, was "continually and blatantly" ignoring the interests of the local community.

He called for the Kidlington site fire risk assessment to be made public.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service said the site was covered by a generic risk assessment for waste fire incidents.

He added: "Our two local Gloucester fire stations are fully aware of this site due to multiple incidents and have been informing the Environment Agency and providing any additional information where possible."

The EA said that it was not funded to clear up waste sites and that it was actively investigating the illegal dumping of waste at Over.

Elsewhere, the EA has also been criticised for failing to remove waste from a huge 25,000-tonne illegal site close to a primary school in Bickershaw, Wigan, which is partially owned by the King's Duchy of Lancaster estate.

In December, Josh Simons, the MP for Makerfield questioned why the EA had decided the fire risk at the Oxfordshire site was enough to clear it yet said it could not deal with the Bickershaw dump, despite a fire breaking out in July that went on to burn for 10 days.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service says it is monitoring the site and the current fire risk is low due to the recent heavy rainfall.

It warned that removing the waste could expose any slow-burning deep-seated fires to open air, risking greater combustion.

The EA added it was "doing everything within our power to ensure that the perpetrators pay the price to clean up the site, rather than taxpayers."

You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.