CONTAMINATED liquid from the Connon Bridge landfill site has escaped into a local stream.

Residents living close to the site near East Taphouse have been angered by the pollution incident which they say has left the whole of the bed of the Widdowpath stream covered in a bright orange slime.

The Environment Agency this week confirmed that the stream, a tributary of the West Looe River, had been contaminated.

An agency spokesperson said: 'The source of the pollution was confirmed to be landfill leachate from the Connon Bridge landfill.

'The leachate had entered the clean water drainage system, underneath the landfill liner, and discharged into the stream via a culvert on site.

'It is thought that the leachate has overflowed from the lined area into an unlined area.'

A spokesperson for site operators SITA UK said that the company was working with the Environment Agency to assess and minimise any impact to the local environment.

'We have already taken action to ensure that discharges with the potential to cause problems in the area are diverted to our onsite leachate treatment plant,' said the spokesperson.

'The environment is very important to us and SITA UK has commissioned an independent review of the impact on the local water courses.'

The Environment Agency reported that its initial inspections revealed no fish deaths, but that fungal or bacterial growth consistent with leachate pollution had been found for a distance of approximately 3.5km along the bed of the stream, which flows through the garden of Diane Davidson, just down the hill from the site.

Diane first noticed the orange discolouration last Thursday – but says that since then the stream has almost stopped flowing, leaving behind the brightly coloured residue.

Resident Doug Mills said that the Widdowpath stream has its source at the western end of the landfill site.

'It used to originate as a spring in the valley,' he said. 'They've dammed the stream, as it is down to a mere trickle of what it normally is.'

An Environment Agency spokesperson said that it was satisfied that SITA had provided a temporary solution to the problem, but that it was encouraging the operators to find a permanent solution as quickly as possible.

'The discharge to the stream has now stopped. Our officers are continuing to work with SITA's staff at the site and to inspect the infrastructure that is being used to contain the contaminated water in the meantime,' the agency spokesperson added.

SITA UK and the agency were continuing to work together to determine the root cause of the pollution, a spokesperson for the operator said.

'It may be that, as a consequence of extreme weather in recent weeks, dirty water has accumulated more quickly and some of this has found its way from the landfill site into the stream,' said the spokesperson.

The chair of the Braddock parish meeting, Benedicte Bay, said that sadly it was not a surprise to the community that the incident had happened.

'It's been more than a year that leachate levels have been out of compliance,' she said.

'They always blame the weather, but it was out of compliance before it started raining heavily. And Cornwall is a rainy place – it's not going to stop raining.'

Doug Mills described the incident as 'yet another example of the mismanagement of the tip by SITA and their predecessors, and their cavalier attitude to everything'.

The strategic planning committee for Cornwall Council will consider an application to extend both the size and lifetime of the Connon Bridge landfill site next Thursday, January 17.

If the application is successful, the tip will be allowed to remain open until 2036. And it will be permitted to increase in capacity by almost two-thirds.

The chair of St Pinnock Parish Council, Carol Spear, will be one of four local residents speaking at the meeting in opposition to the plans.

'I really am against an extension for 22 years. I understand that there is nowhere else for the rubbish to go and if it has to go out of Cornwall it will be very costly. But I feel that Cornwall Council and its predecessors have buried their heads in the sand and not looked for an alternative site, other than the incinerator,' said Carol.

'SITA managed it well at the very beginning,' she added, 'but now we're getting more rubbish, and with the adverse weather, they're under a lot of pressure. It concerns me.'

Residents who formed an action group against the proposed extension will once again gather to protest outside County Hall in Truro on the day of the meeting.

Bethel Chapel resident Nina Hansell says that she and her husband Tom feel they will have to move away from the area before they start a family, if the extension is granted.

'We've got such a lovely area, but they're destroying it,' said Nina, who described how everyone had had enough of the smelly gases, speeding lorries and constant noise and mess associated with the site.

'They've said the water is perfectly safe – but don't let your dogs drink from it,' Nina continued.

'If they do extend they'll be closer to the school. I won't have children in East Taphouse while the tip is still here.'