Fly-hit Barrow waste treatment plant reopens
A waste treatment plant in Cumbria forced to close down after neighbouring businesses reported a plague of flies has started operating again.
The mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant in Barrow opened in March as part of a £400m deal to end Cumbria County Council's reliance on landfill.
Last month the Environment Agency ordered the plant should close and be disinfected.
It said it was satisfied the situation had improved and had lifted the notice.
The facility, on the Sowerby Woods Industrial Estate, is run on behalf of the local authority by Shanks Waste Management as part of a 25-year deal to effectively remove the council's need to use landfill sites.
The MBT process sorts out recyclables and allows waste to be shredded, dried and transformed into a solid fuel, which can be burned to generate energy.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: "Last month, following extensive investigations, we served a notice to Shanks to prevent the operator from accepting waste on its site until effective control measures had been put in place to control flies.
"We can now report that we are satisfied the timetable of targets we set have been achieved and the situation has been improved. This notice has now been lifted with immediate effect."
He said the agency would continue to monitor the site.
While the plant was closed, domestic waste was sent to existing landfill sites.