Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme

The clearance of three potentially dangerous rubbish tips - which once loomed over the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil – has been completed by Miller Argent. The residual treatment work was finished in early January 2009 and represents a tremendous gain to the local community, with a saving of approximately £30 million to council taxpayers of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, South Wales.

The three tips, Hoover, Merthyr landfill and Tip 13, were not only a financial liability but were potentially hazardous, especially due to soil contamination, landfill gas and toxic seepage into the water table. A prime condition of Miller Argent’s work at Ffos-y-fran was that remedial work had to be started on the landfill sites before any coal extraction could undertaken.

More than 350 thousand tonnes of material from the waste tips – including domestic, commercial and industrial waste – was safely removed; with more than 500 thousand tonnes screened, sifted and recycled safely. Dangerous and toxic elements were removed and taken elsewhere for treatment and disposal. Other non-hazardous materials have been disposed of at the nearby Trecatti site, which is a registered landfill. The work was carried out within the controls and approval of both the local authority and the Environment Agency Wales.

This long term reclamation project is transforming the area and will ultimately return the mountain to the Welsh nation in its pre-industrial condition, of over 150 years ago.