Viridor Ardley ERF
After being informed by staff at the landfill site near Greatmoor, I decided to check out the Viridor Energy Recovery Facility in Ardley. On Wednesday morning we drove up along the motorway and up to the gate warden's check point. We asked if we could drive through, as they have a visitor center, but this was not allowed so we circled back and I was dropped off at the motorway to find the footpath along the ERF.
The plant is situated off the B430 and is just north of the crescent lake located at the south of the map. After being dropped off, I began to walk along the edge of the mototway to discover a plethora of discarded waste. In the opening paragrah of my thesis I state that discard is "uncontainable" and this clearly demonstrated that. A recent article shows the true extent of how the system of how waste tends toward "leakage" through incentivization toward illegal practice. Unfortunately as an American, I am used to trash scattered along our highways, this and rarely give it a thought. I remember a New York in the 70's and 80s as being particularly trashy. Like most waste, even after a cleanup, I suspect it would "repopulate" along such well travelled motorways. It is interesting to think of how the waste tends to accumulate here more often. What forces are involved? Is it natural, autonomous forces like wind like blow loose waste, entangling them in gullies and shrubbery, or anthropocentric ones: people throwing trash out of windows, waste falling from the myriad trucks that run in and out of Ardley ERF? It seems to be one of the most common sites for trash: the small, liminal strips of "nature" adjacent to roads. This however, is sadly no longer shocking or abhorant. It is possible that because I do not live in this vicinity, I too am biased to the "out of sight, out of mind" disposition towards it.
Once I entered the gateway of the ERF, the footpath led up along a raised embankment bordered by a large chainlink fence along the south edge of the facility. With no footpath that skirts around the other side facility, the acoustic horizon would not offer the sound of the plant in the same way as Veolia ERF in Newhaven. I did however notice a low frequency intermittent thrum every few minutes, but I have no way of knowing if this is a sound the plant itself produces in waste processing to energy. This left me with a dilemma on what exactly would this soundscape reveal, materially, sonically. I decided to camp myself directly across the gateway entrance to where the trucks are admitted and allowed to leave. It dawned on me that a days recording of the trucks entering and leaving and processed in a way to create a condensed time lapsed audio file might give the impression of how much waste is collected in the area. I am also recording this process in my neighborhood in Brighton, as garbage and recycling are collected. Although not in the catchment area for Viridor, It might be interesting to juxtopose these two ends of the collection and processing spectrum with the the transportation link.
Once again I assumed I would be met by security to question why I would be pointing microphones through a fence at a gate check. Lo and behold a man in personal protective equipment eventually came riding on a motorized buggy and stopped by to talk to me. I assumed it would be an inspection and immediately went into my spiel. The worker was so friendly, curious, and 100% assuring that what I was doing was perfectly fine. In fact, he told me to have fun, though I could see him reading my eyes for the truth or for sanity verification. He did inform me that his job was to go around the plant and take water samples, as evidenced by the dozen or so plastic water bottles in the vehicle's basket. This was due to levels of ammonia in the water supply and the need to meet UK regulations. Presumably, contaminants can leach through the landfill adjacent to the ERF. Since having learned that a huge breeding population of kites existed within the Calvert landfill site, I asked if there were any such species of note taking residence near the viridor site. He pointed to the two smoke stacks that can be seen in the picture above, and said no with a smile. He noted that two Peregrine falcons had taken up a nest in the stacks and have policed the other raptors out of the area. He also keyed me into the surrounding geography, noting that a limestone quarry was in operation on the opposite side of the path, and depending on the time of year one could hear the massive blasts employed to harvest the limestone. Unfortunatley this was not the time of year, but construction vehicles could still be faintly heard dredging through the dug channels of the quarry.
I talked to the Viridor employee for a good 5 or 10 minutes as he sped off down the path I decided to investigate further on. I did come across an area with a running stream and decided to set up and record.
It was interesting to record the stream of running water directly then slowly raise the microphones up to diminish the sound of the water and record the flow of traffic from the major motorway crossing the area: two flowing material bodies with their unique frequencies and modulations.
With a minimalist soundscape, I began to think of different ways to record the sites materiality. I decided to add a performative element to the recording and place two sets of scrap microphones onto the fence and tap it to record the vibrational, gong-like, frequencies that it generated.
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