Dear Sir,

I have just been looking at your excellent website. Maybe you could help settle an argument between us locals. Is Shipley Woodside pumping station still pumping mine water from abandoned local pits, particularly those in the Denby/Kilburn area?

I would be most grateful if you could settle our ongoing 'debate'. I hope that you can help. Many thanks.

Regards

Jonathan Hunt from Marehay near Ripley.

Message Received: Apr 26 2007, 06:08 AM
From: Joe Henshaw.

Woodside still pumps water from the No.2 Piper shaft, where three (used to be 4) submersible pumps are used to absract anything up to 25 million gallons of minewater per week. The water is delivered to the six settling lagoons West of the Shipley View estate, principally for precipitation of iron compounds by oxygenation then sedimentation prior to removal as slurry. Water discharges to the Nutbrook at the South end, which is very dependent on this treated minewater for its flow and current improving aquatic health. Obviously the treatment process has to work correctly or this could affect the Nutbrook and other watercourses/bodies dramatically.

Woodside is the major pumping station of the area, others being at the former Morton Colliery, and "A" Winning near Blackwell; I don't think either of these are operational - they are really standby stations compared to Woodside, but this could be checked with the Coal Authority. Woodside is hugely influential in controlling both mine and ground water levels in the area, in that if the level rises too high in the shaft, minewater can (and has) come to the surface via a number of predictable and non-predictable routes. Furthermore, the more this allows the general water table to rise, the more easily ground becomes saturated. This position can lead to polluted waters emerging in brooks and springs well above the current pumping level as rainwater etc. percolates through shallow coal measures, picking up the same contaminants as from the old mine workings.

The current level in No.2 shaft is 70 metres below surface; prior to closure of Annesley Bentinck mine in 2000, the level was maintained at 200 metres below surface to prevent flooding at that pit, and overspill into the Notts coalfield at Calverton and further still. The pumps were originally turned off in an exercise to see if their use could be discontinued (costs money), but 70 metres depth was arrived at to prevent both local pollution and water problems in the active coalfield, quite amazing when you think that this is now Welbeck near Mansfield. The depth of water is measured weekly to ensure correct operation; at one time there was automatic monitoring linked to pits like Calverton and Annesley, but this was discontinued on their closure.

The lattice iron winding gear was used as part of the winch system to lift the pumps for maintenance, using an electric drum winder located in the winding house; this is not the winding drum that was used for the pit cage, which was steam-driven. The winding house with pump control gear still remains and operates, but the original winder was cut down for scrap by my great friends RJB Mining (now UK Coal). Presumably this was part of the company's "good neighbour" strategy which it is now planning to foist upon us with the Lodge House opencast mine next to Shipley Park! Removal of the pumps for maintenance now has to be performed by crane. Around Mapperley, you can often tell when there is a problem at the pumping station as the low ground gets wetter, water flow in brooks and springs increases, and in extreme cases turns orange with an oily film on top. A look over to the pumping station usually confirms what is happening as the jib of a giant crane is visible.

As for whether water is still pumped from under Denby/Kilburn - without doubt Woodside will influence the flow of ground/mine water from this area, although by now many workings can be expected to have collapsed. What I have been told is that during the operation of the Carrington Farm opencast site between Denby and Smalley, the company involved illegally pumped water and slurry from the excavations into an old roadway that had been encountered, possibly fro Shipley Coppice Colliery. Apparently the pumps available at Carrington Farm could not discharge quickly enough to the surface lagoons, and this was seen as a quick fix. This material found its way to Woodside, damaged the pumps, and was undiscovered until an orange trail was seen in the Shipley lagoons and Nutbrook. Aren't opencast comapanies great?

Hi Fionn
What do you make of what the Environment Agency are saying about Woodside Pumping Station in the attachment enclosed?
The word 'indefinitely' strikes fear in our hearts.

• Is the pumping station in good order?
• Is it regularly maintained?
• What would happen if it broke down?
• How long will it keep pumping do you think?

I hope you can answer some of these difficult questions as there is a planning application to be decided on 17-9-07 which involves building 300 new houses and a massive industrial estate on top of at least 40 abandoned mines in the Denby area [the Cinderhill Development as it's known locally, to which most residents are opposed].

I would be most grateful if you could help.

Kind regards

Jonathan Hunt.

Dear Sir/Madam

CINDERHILL TAR PITS

Thank you for attending the public surgery at the Denby Institute on June14th 2007. I apologise for the slight delay in responding to you but I wanted to provide a summary of most of the points raised during the evening. The surgery was well attended and we spoke to approximately 40 people who raised a wide range of concerns about the site. Broadly speaking the concerns related to the following:-

Increased surface water run off from the site

Many comments were made relating to how surface drainage would be controlled from the site if developed. Concerns were raised over the periodic flooding of Brickyard Lane and also the watercourses surrounding the site such as the Bottle Brook.

We responded to Amber Valley Borough Council’s consultation on the planning application in accordance with the advice and guidance in Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS25) – Development and Flood Risk. A key objective of PPS25 is to reduce flood risk from new development. Amber Valley must take account of this guidance when making a decision on the planning application. We have requested that Amber Valley include conditions which will control surface water and take account of downstream flood risk.

We are in discussion with the consultants acting on behalf of the applicants regarding an appropriately engineered solution.

It should be noted that there are areas of land adjacent to watercourses that function as floodplain. These areas are usually low lying land that can flood on a regular basis and it is essential for the flood risk management of others that such areas are allowed to flood. We issued a flood warning for the Bottle Brook following the recent heavy rainfall. Areas of the Bottle Brook floodplain were flooded as a result of this rainfall which included the Denby Bowling Green.

Several comments were also made regarding the inability of highway drains on some local roads to cope with periods of heavy rain. The Highways Agency has the responsibility for the maintenance of highway drains on motorways and trunk roads, and Amber Valley Borough Council has the responsibility for all other adopted highways in their area. Contact details for the Highways Agency are shown below.

Increased traffic/reduction in road safety
Questions concerning the changes to road junctions and issues relating to increased traffic in the area are not issues that we lead on. Any comments about these issues should be raised either with the Highways Agency or Amber Valley. The Highways Agency can be contacted on 08457 50 40 30or 0121 335 8300.

Escape of contaminated material
This issue was raised by almost everybody. We have been in contact with Fuch’s Lubricants, the successor to the company that deposited the acid tar waste. They are proposing to fence the tar pits to prevent unauthorised access. We have made recommendations to Amber Valley Borough Council regarding a full site investigation being undertaken prior to development and remediation. This investigation will need to provide answers regarding groundwater contamination, stability of the tar pit walls and the possibility of airborne contaminants. Once these issues have been fully investigated, a remediation scheme can be developed to make the site permanently safe for future users and prevent any contamination of surface and groundwaters.

Other Materials tipped in the Tarpits
The full investigation of the tar pits should enable an assessment of whether wastes other than the acid tar was deposited at the site.

Mine water rise/former mine workings
Several people expressed concern over the possibility that water contained within former mine workings could rise and that this may cause contamination to migrate from the tar pits. We have an ongoing dialogue with the Coal Authority (the organisation responsible for mine drainage) and it is proposed that the continued dewatering of mine workings in the area known as the Shipley basin will continue indefinitely.

Dewatering of mine workings currently takes place via the Woodside Pumping Station. We monitor this discharge to surface water and have no evidence of pollution being caused by this discharge.

We have also reviewed groundwater data and site investigations undertaken in the area of the tar pits. Whilst most of these reports are several years old, the geology and it's effect on how groundwater passes through the area is complex. We have therefore requested that this issue be examined in any future site investigation undertaken at the site.

Wildlife and Habitat

As part of our response to Amber Valley’s planning consultation we have advised them that the area contains some valuable and varied habitats supporting protected and notable species. We have recommended that these must be protected and enhanced by following the recommendations of the Ecology Section of the Environmental Statement and through the production of detailed mitigation plans. Sufficient public open space will need to be provided to ensure that existing ecologically valuable habitats are not compromised or sacrificed to more formal amenity uses.

Any other questions

The contents of this letter and the information given out at our public surgery have hopefully given you the information you require. However, should you require any further information please contact me on the telephone number shown below.

Yours faithfully

ANDREW BARKER

TECHNICAL OFFICER-CONTAMINATED LAND AND GROUNDWATER

Direct dial 0115 846 3730

Direct fax 0115 981 7743

Direct e-mail andrew.barker@environment-agency.gov.uk

Cinderhill Opposition Group

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