The Environment Agency has revised MID - 14385

Posted on: May 24, 2011

Stationary source emissions – Determination of the total emission
of As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Tl and V
Measurement of metals including an option to measure mercury

The Environment Agency recognizes that European and International standards may
need supplementing by Method Implementation Documents (MIDs) to ensure they are
being implemented consistently.

MIDs are produced in collaboration with the Source Testing Association and its
members.

The revised document can be viewed using the following link :
MID 14385 (640.22 KB)

Technical Guidance Note - M16 (April 2011)

Posted on: May 19, 2011

Monitoring volatile organic compounds in stack gas emissions

This Technical Guidance Note (TGN) is one of a series providing guidance to our staff, monitoring contractors, industry and other parties interested in emissions and regulatory monitoring.
This note provides information on the sampling, monitoring and measuring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to air from industrial processes.

The term volatile organic compounds (VOCs) covers an enormous range of classes of chemicals, such as aliphatic, aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, esters, ethers, alcohols, acids and amines. It is recognised that certain VOCs are involved in the generation of photochemical oxidants, in particular ozone, in the troposphere. VOCs are an important class of pollutants commonly found in the atmosphere at ground level in urban and industrial centres.
There are various definitions of VOCs. We have adopted the United Nations Economic Council for Europe (UNECE) definition, which defines a VOC as any organic compound which is emitted from non-natural processes and has a photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP).
We interpret this as any organic compound released to the atmosphere from an operator’s plant or process, excluding releases of naturally produced VOCs from within the plant boundary and methane.
A large number of industries emit VOCs. These emissions have two main types of impact:

• a direct impact, where some VOCs can have direct effects on human health;

• indirect impacts through the creation of photochemical pollutants such as ozone, which is a
secondary pollutant. Ozone has direct effects on human health, plants and materials. It is also a
greenhouse gas.

M16 (279.25 KB)
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Hazardous Waste

Posted on: May 16, 2011

Companies in England and Wales who produce and manage hazardous waste will need to take account of the changes to hazardous waste regulations introduced by the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 and the Waste (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) 2011 Regulations. Some of the changes to the regulations came into effect in the 29th March 2011 whilst others will be effective as from the 28 September 2011.

The changes that take effect immediately, relate to:

1. record keeping: Sites that receive hazardous waste (except landfills) now only have to keep copies of the consignment notes for 5 years after disposal or recovery of the waste. Landfill sites, however, need to keep these records for the lifetime of the site as before. However, dealers and brokers of hazardous waste now need to keep records.

2. a new hazard property “sensitization” which is likely to affect waste that contains adhesives, resins and cosmetics amongst other materials. This new hazard has been numbered H13 (sensitising) with the existing H13 hazard being renumbered H15.

From September 28th 2011 a new format consignment note and procedure will be used for hazardous waste movements. This new consignment note includes two significant changes:

1. it contains a declaration by the consignor of the waste that the “waste hierarchy” has been considered in its management: and

2. the same note can now be used for single or multiple movements but if used for a consignment that is part of a multiple collection extra information needs to be included.

For further information please contact 01443 841760

WID Operator Achieves 99% in OMA

Posted on: May 13, 2011

Further to assistance from Environmental Compliance Ltd, Peake (GB) Ltd achieved a score of 99% in their recent Operator Monitoring Assessment (OMA) V3. Rick Gould, Environment Agency, carried out the audit which included assessing compliancewith BS EN 14181 and was extremely pleased with the level of commitment from the site which operated above “best practice”.

Richard Brenton, Operations Director, Peake (GB) Ltd, was extremely complimentary with the assistance provided by Matthew Wright, Business Development Manager, and said “thank you for the excellent service we have received from all of your team especially Matthew with regards to ensuring we are running inline with our permit conditions, yesterdays OMA audit score was testament to the excellent monitoring, documentation and guidance that ECL provide, we would not hesitate to recommend ECL services to any potential customers.”

Should you require assistance in receiving training on OMA, or a site visit to discuss how we can improve your OMA, please feel free to contact the Cardiff office to discuss this further.

Training Brochure (955.91 KB)