'Stink bomb' Pembrokeshire landfill told to sort out smell

Owners of a landfill site dubbed "a stink bomb on steroids" have been told to clean up their act by a regulator.

The firm behind Withyhedge Landfill in Pembrokeshire has been told to "contain and collect" all "fugitive emissions".

People said the odour of "rotting rubbish" is noticeable in villages as far as five miles away.

Natural Resources Wales said the company's forecast to fix the problem by early March was not realistic and has now set a deadline of 5 April.

Operators Resources Management UK Ltd (RML) previously apologised for the smell and said it was trying to "rectify the issue with immediate effect".

NRW said the proposal made by the company to contain and collect landfill gas was not "compliant with its permit" and was likely to "contain many unknowns with potential problems for the future."

It considered the short-term benefits of alleviating the smell were "outweighed by the medium-to-longer term risks".

Describing the decisions required to be made as "complex" the statement said "noticeable reductions in landfill gas emissions and odours are anticipated in the coming weeks".

NRW added that, as its notice is linked to "ongoing investigations into permit non-compliances", it cannot be made publicly available.

In recent weeks locals have told of an all-pervading "rank stench" from Withyhedge not unlike "the stink bombs we had as kids, but on steroids".

However, RML said the odours were a result of a delay in "capping" a waste containment cell and were "not harmful to people or the environment".

It added that it was "deeply apologetic for the impact on the local community" and had put processes in place to stop the issue "occurring in the future".

An investigation into liquid discharge from the site escaping into a nearby river is also under way.

Sold in 2022 to Cardiff-based Dauson Environmental Group, RML is permitted to deposit 250,000 tonnes of waste at Withyhedge every year.

Campaigners have expressed concern that an RML director previously pleaded guilty to illegally dumping waste at another location - in particular a Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Gwent Levels in Newport

David John Neal was given a suspended sentence in May 2013 and ordered to pay fines and costs of more than £200,000.