Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many former waste recycling sites require site clearance; how many such sites are in Bassetlaw constituency; what the estimated cost of such clearance is (a) nationally and (b) in Bassetlaw constituency; and what the estimated timescale is for clearance of each such site.

The Environment Agency currently does not hold a national list of abandoned waste sites, the quantities of waste on those sites or the estimated cost of disposal.

The responsibility for removing waste from abandoned sites lies with the landowner. In recent years the Environment Agency has successfully worked with a number of landlords to clear sites of abandoned waste.

When all options for remediating a site have been exhausted, the Environment Agency may consider exercising its discretionary powers. It will only do this in extremely limited circumstances where there is an ongoing or immediate, significant and sustained risk to the local community.

The Environment Agency is aware of two abandoned sites in the Bassetlaw constituency which it monitors on a regular basis and is actively working with the local authority, fire service and landowners of the sites to resolve the current issues.