Environment Agency Considers Mobile Air Quality Units Amid Landfill Concerns at Seaton Carew Hartlepool..
- teessidetoday
- Jul 7
- 3 min read
The site is said to be the subject of numerous complaints from local residents living near the site from, litter, dust & foul odours according to an Environment Agency Report...
7th July 2025
Durham & Teesside Today understands that the Environment Agency may now finally be compelled to take further action following growing public pressure over persistent odours and pollution issues allegedly linked to the Seaton Meadows Landfill site located just on the outskirts of Hartlepool.
The Environment Agency has reportedly been inundated with complaints from local residents about foul odours, dust, and litter allegedly emanating from the site. The issue has sparked significant concern among communities in Seaton Carew and surrounding areas.
In a statement seen by Durham & Teesside Today, the Environment Agency confirmed that it is carrying out regular amenity monitoring at the site and has increased the frequency of its visits to better investigate and understand the complaints. A dust monitoring system has also been installed in an effort to assess the levels of particulate matter potentially being released from the landfill.
While the Environment Agency has acknowledged that it cannot station officers at the site permanently, it has confirmed that it is liaising with the National Air Quality Monitoring Team.
Discussions are also said to be underway regarding the deployment of mobile air quality monitoring units to assess the environmental impact more accurately, particularly in relation to air pollution and odour levels.
Seaton Meadows Landfill is said to have been in continuous operation since the early 1980s. A modern Environment Agency permit was then granted in 2003, replacing the original permit issued by the now-defunct Cleveland County Council prior to its abolition in 1996. Although its claimed the site has experienced periods of reduced activity over the decades, the permit has never been surrendered, and operations have never officially ceased.
Many residents however have expressed growing concern over the height and visual impact of the landfill, claiming it now dominates the local landscape. However, the Environment Agency has responded to these concerns by stating that the current height of the landfill remains within the boundaries of the original planning and permitting conditions.
It is also understood that the site is reportedly preparing to enter its final phase of development, with construction on the last cell—located near the Brenda Road section—set to begin within the next few weeks. Before work can commence however, its claimed certain infrastructure will need to be removed according to the documents seen by one of our reporters. The Environment Agency is also said to have requested detailed engineering and capping plans for this final phase, including the installation of additional gas wells to manage the production of landfill gases.
Local frustration has reached boiling point over the issue of the landfill site at Seaton Carew with even intervention from the Hartlepool Labour MP Jonathan Brash wading into the locals campaign for the site to be closed.. Complaints from locals regarding foul odours from the landfill have been ongoing for years, with some residents alleging that the smell is so severe at times that it affects their quality of life. There have even been reports of individuals selling their homes and moving away, unable to tolerate the conditions any longer.
Many are now calling for the site to be either closed entirely or the site to be far more stringently managed, insisting that enough is enough. As one resident put it: “It’s time the Environment Agency stepped up and made sure this site stops stinking out the community.”
"We've simply had enough of it" !
