Landfill Check

Steetley - Wardley Quarry

SpecialLiquid / sludgeIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert

Steetley - Wardley Quarry is a historic (closed) landfill site recorded by the Environment Agency near Hebburn. It received special (hazardous), liquid/sludge, industrial, household, commercial and inert waste between 1984 and 1994, covering about 15.02 hectares. Reference EAHLD06205, October 2025 data revision.

Full record

EA referenceEAHLD06205
Site nameSteetley - Wardley Quarry
AddressWardley Lane, Wardley
Site operatorNot recorded
Licence holderSteetley Construction Materials Limited
Licence issued29 May 1984
Licence surrendered31 March 1994
First waste input30 May 1984
Last waste input31 March 1994
Area15.02 ha
Gas controlNot recorded
Leachate containmentNot recorded
Licensed siteYes
EA areaNorthumbria NE
Grid reference430700, 562100

Source: Environment Agency Historic Landfill Sites dataset, October 2025 revision.

Boundary map

What these waste types mean

Special:
the licensing-era term for hazardous waste — asbestos, chemicals, oils. The category that most warrants a closer look.
Liquid / sludge:
liquid wastes and sludges, such as sewage sludge or industrial effluent. Can be mobile in groundwater, so worth understanding.
Industrial:
factory and process waste. Contents vary widely — some benign, some not; the site's operator and era are the clues.
Household:
everyday domestic refuse. Decomposes and can generate landfill gas for a few decades after closure.
Commercial:
waste from shops and offices — paper, packaging, food. Similar profile to household waste, usually less of it.
Inert:
builder's rubble, subsoil, concrete, brick. Doesn't decompose or generate gas; the lowest-concern category.

Other historic landfill sites nearby

What this data does — and doesn't — cover

  • Licensed-era records only. Waste licensing began in 1974. Older tips — especially small pre-war ones — are incompletely recorded, so absence from this data does not mean no landfill ever existed here.
  • Not the contaminated-land register. Councils hold a separate register of land determined as contaminated. A historic landfill entry is not a contamination determination, and vice versa.
  • Boundaries are indicative. Digitised at 1:10,000 scale; some are buffers around a point rather than surveyed edges.
  • Not a substitute for a formal environmental search. If you're buying, your conveyancer's environmental search checks this and several other sources.

EA Historic Landfill dataset, October 2025 revision. More on the methodology page.