Our compliance performance
During 2011, we saw a continued high level of environmental performance and compliance with our legal and social responsibilities at our power stations.
We record all environmental events or near misses reported at our operational plant. Of those recorded in 2011, five at our power stations were considered by the Environment Agency to have been non-compliant with our permit requirements and had caused, or had the potential to cause, minor environmental harm. Six events had resulted in complaints from the public that we considered to be justified.
There were no events or incidents during 2011 that had caused, or had the potential to cause, significant or major environmental harm.
An environmental event is classified by the Environment Agency as a Level 3 non-compliance if it is considered that a permit condition has not been met and minor environmental harm has, or has potentially, occurred and as a Level 4 non-compliance if a permit condition has not been met but had no potential to cause environmental harm. The five events in 2011 that were classified as being non-compliant with our permit conditions were:
- At Didcot B Power Station an exceedence of the cooling water purge chloride limit occurred (Level 3);
- At Aberthaw Power Station two fugitive dust emissions occurred, one at the Quarry ash disposal site and one at the ash reprocessing plant (both Level 3). An oil leak occurred from a 275kV cable on Unit 7 and the annual surveillance test report on the Continuous Emission Monitors was delayed (both Level 4).
Complaints and Enquiries
The six events during 2011 that resulted in enquiries or complaints being received by that were considered to be justified:
- Four complaints related to elevated noise levels at a number of our power stations, namely Aberthaw (1), Great Yarmouth (1) and Staythorpe (2);
- One complaint related to a fugitive dust emission from Aberthaw Power station during high winds, which affected some local properties;
- One complaint related to a non-operational site, Willington, where overgrown site ditches led to water overflowing onto neighbouring land.
We continue to give all complaints and enquiries received high priority and immediately investigate any received. None of the above incidents resulted in prosecution or enforcement action being taken by the Environment Agency.
