Guidance

Storing contaminated waste waters from gas pipelines: RPS 100

Updated 19 January 2023

Applies to England

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to get an environmental permit for a waste operation when you store more than 1,000 litres of contaminated waste waters removed from gas pipelines.

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if do not comply with these legal requirements provided:

  • your activity meets the description set out in this RPS
  • you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS

In addition, your activity must not cause (or be likely to cause) environmental pollution or harm human health, or:

  • cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
  • cause a nuisance through noise or odours
  • adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

When this RPS applies

This RPS applies where water has got into a gas pipeline and needs to be removed. The water may be classed as hazardous waste (code 16 10 01* aqueous liquid wastes containing dangerous substances). You can remove the contaminated waste water into a tanker.

This RPS applies when you need to store more contaminated waste water from gas pipelines than the 1,000 litres of liquid waste allowed by Non Waste Framework Directive exemption 3 (NWFD 3).

Conditions you must comply with

You must:

  • only store contaminated waste water at a place controlled by the gas grid operator or their authorised contractor
  • store contaminated waste water in a secure place – you must take reasonable precautions to make sure that the waste cannot escape and it cannot be accessed by members of the public
  • store contaminated waste water in a place with secondary containment – this means using a bund or other system to prevent any waste that leaks from a primary container escaping from the place where it is stored
  • dispose of hazardous waste properly
  • keep records for 2 years to show that you have complied with this RPS and make these records available to the Environment Agency on request

If you use a bund as secondary containment it must have:

  • an impermeable lining
  • a capacity of 110% or more of the original container’s storage capacity

If there is more than one container within the containment system, the bund’s capacity must be the larger of either:

  • 110% or more of the largest container’s storage capacity
  • 25% of their aggregated storage capacity

You must take reasonable measures to maintain these capacities at all times.

You must not:

  • store more than 17,000 litres of contaminated waste water at any one time
  • store contaminated waste water for more than 3 months

When you must check back

The Environment Agency will review this RPS by 15 December 2025. You will need to check back then to see if it still applies or if you need to apply for an environmental permit.

The Environment Agency can withdraw or amend this enforcement position before it is reviewed if they consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RPS relates to has not changed.

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but think you may no longer be able to comply with its conditions, you must tell the Environment Agency immediately.

Contact the Environment Agency

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.