Seventeen. No wait, nearly thirty. Specifically 28 sites. These are the so-called “super sites” where criminals have dumped tens of thousands of tonnes of refuse across England. The Environment Agency dropped this new watchlist on Friday. It includes 117 “high priority” locations, but the real headline is those massive dumps holding more than 20, some containing over 20,000 tons each.
The biggest is in Northwich. Cheshire. It is a 281, 000 ton heap of contaminated soil. A BBC investigation found it earlier this year, back in January, along with ten others like it. It looks bad from the sky.
Why only these 117? There are roughly 700 illegal dumpsites out there. The agency says this subset exists so residents can actually see where action is happening. It feels like triage. You pick who gets the bandages and who waits.
Some places are already being cleaned. Hoads Wood in Kent. Kidlington in Oxfordshire. Then you have the tips in Wigan and Sheffield. Together, they hold nearly 40,00 tonnes. Those two might get cleaned by taxpayers. As part of the government waste crime plan. But that is not guaranteed for the rest. The EA admitted they aren’t funded for general cleanup. They do it in “exceptional circumstances.”
What does exceptional mean? A specific criteria. Serious environmental risk. Impact on the local community. That is how the government decided who pays the bill.
Geoff Howarth lives next to the Sheffield pile. He does not care for this new list.
“No more faith whatsoever” that action would be taken.
He thinks the agency needs to step up. Stop the reoffending. He has a specific demand. If you use public money to clean it up, seize the land. Sell it. Make the criminals pay. Otherwise it feels like a handout to the guilty.
What’s actually there? It’s not just cardboard boxes. Household waste. Construction debris. Asbestos. Tyres. Some sites operate without permits, churning along illegally. Others are just fields, often private property in the countryside, filled with piles of nothingness that should not exist.
The EA wants you to call them if you see something. They will update the list every month. They want to track this crime. But they won’t give you everything. Broad locations only. The nature of the dump. Nothing else. Why? To avoid prejudicing investigations. To not tip off the guys doing the dumping before they arrest them.
It is an act of transparency. Or at least it is supposed to be. Communities need to know action is coming. And the criminals?
We want them to know we are coming.
