Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland
If you are the owner of the septic tank then you are responsible for its safe and effective operation. Problems can occur with septic tanks and they can be described as:
Make sure you know how best to look after your septic tank, including What shouldn’t go into a septic tank and Maintaining your septic tank (Links to the above pages)
Your tank should be able to deal with the quantity of sewage and waste water you produce. It should treat it, and produce a discharge that doesn’t smell or flood the ground. The discharge should not cause problems by polluting watercourses. If it fails to operate correctly, then you should contact a drainage specialist or plumber who can remedy the problems.
If your septic tank is discharging effluent that is pollution nearby streams, or is polluting groundwater then this is a matter for your environmental regulator, either the NIEA or SEPA. They may require you to carry out work that will prevent pollution of the water environment.
If your septic tank:
then your neighbours can contact the environmental health department of your local council. Your council can use laws designed to deal with nuisances, and can require you to carry out works to stop the nuisance and to prevent it happening again.
The correct installation and correct management of the tank should prevent these types of issues arising.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has published a short guide to the duty of care responsibilities including advice and information for waste producers, carriers and those accepting, storing and treating waste.
https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/waste-duty-care-responsibilities
Any person intending to alter the use or management of areas of uncultivated or semi-natural land must obtain prior approval from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
Read more on the DAERA website
The NetRegs team at SEPA, in partnership with The Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and a number of industry bodies have produced 9 new GPPs to replace out of date PPGs. More are coming! Check the available topics
New guidance for Start-ups, charities and community projects
http://www.netregs.org.uk/environmental-topics/environmental-management/first-steps-guidance-for-new-starts-projects-and-charities/
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