Landfill stench putting residents off their dinner

People living near a landfill site have said the worsening smell has put them off eating and means they have to stay indoors.

Complaints about odours similar to gas and rotten eggs at the Hafod quarry site in Johnstown, Wrexham, have increased over the past six months.

The owners said they were operating within legal limits and doing all they could to prevent the problem.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it was closely reviewing the situation to see if further measures would be needed.

Kelly Bellis, who lives nearby, said she was worried about the impact of the site on her teenage daughter, who has asthma.

"It does affect our life, it affects our freedom, it affects our appetite," she said.

"You smell that smell at teatime and you don't feel like having tea.

"It's not a nice way to live and it does hamper our lives daily."

Sleep does not even provide an escape from the smell for one neighbour of the site.

Sandra Cummings said the smell was bad all year, but was worse in the summer.

He said: "If it's a hot night and you want your windows open because you're sweating you just can't.

"I could be in a deep sleep and all of a sudden I start to heave, so I have to go and shut the window."

Ruth Thomas has been campaigning against the landfill site and its various operators for 20 years.

She lives half a mile from the tip and said she had almost become immune to the smell, but there were still times when it was too much.

"I am noseblind to that landfill smell unless it's really bad," she said.

"It's like being a farmer - you get used to the smell of cows and it goes away and that's how I feel.

"I am now suffering - I don't know what else it is doing to me apart from the smell."

The chief executive of Enovert, which runs the landfill site, told a Wrexham council scrutiny meeting on 16 October the company was operating according to its permit from NRW.

Mark Silvester said in a statement: "Further to NRW’s comments confirming that Enovert is using all appropriate measures we will consider what we can do over and above those requirements to minimise and prevent odour impact beyond the site boundary."

NRW said Enovert had identified "appropriate measures" in its odour management plan to deal with the smell, but understood there continued to be "impacts on the community".

It added: "We are closely reviewing their plan to determine if any additional measures are needed to further mitigate odours."

Enovert, NRW, Public Health Wales and Wrexham council's public protection department were asked to return in six months with reports on how they would address concerns.

Councillor David Bithell said NRW and Enovert would monitor levels of leachate - polluted liquid that drains from landfill - every month rather than every three.

He said he hoped this would lead to the odours disappearing.