THE management of a landfill site in Wrexham was scrutinised by council members on Wednesday (October 16) as concerns continue to be raised over ongoing odours.
Wrexham Council's Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee met at Guildhall to discuss the ongoing issues at the Hafod Landfill site in Johnstown.
'Rotten egg' smells have been reported near the site for over a year, with more than 300 complaints made by residents during that time.
Site operators Enovert were issued with a statutory notice by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in December 2023 for breaching its environmental permit and urged to address the problem.
While some improvements were noted in the following months, villagers say their lives are still being made a misery by the foul stench.
At the meeting on Wednesday, representatives from NRW and Enovert were present to take questions from councillors.
Johnstown Councillor, David A Bithell began the meeting by stating that issues had been ongoing at the site for 20 years and that there had been a "significant number of complaints in the past 12 months".
He added that the odours were not just affecting residents near to the site, but also those living in Ponciau, Penycae, Ruabon and Rhos, as well as being able to smell the odour while driving on the A483.
Cllr Bithell added that that local residents "want action" and that the process to date was "not good enough."
A spokesperson for NRW told the meeting that issues were found following tests at the site after complaints were first made.
After issuing the statuary notice, they stated there was a drop in complaints around March of this year, before spikes in complaints began to appear during the summer.
NRW said that they were looking to provide a webpage for residents to use that would issue updates, as well as looking to commit to a regular newsletter.
Mark Silvester, CEO of Enovert said that the company were "committed to investing in the site" and that they were not currently in breach of any environmental permits required of them by NRW, but that they could look at going "over and above" the required levels to address the issues.
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Chair of the Committee Paul Pemberton questioned the permits and asked whether they were stringent enough considering the issues being faced. While Cllr Paul Rogers labelled them "not fit for purpose".
Concerns were also raised over potential health implications, with Cllr Pemberton stating he was "more than disappointed" with Public Health Wales for not attending.
NRW reaffirmed that they were taking every complaint seriously and that "everything we can do, we are doing in terms of our remit" and that the aim of the regulations is to stop the odours in Johnstown.
Cllr Pemberton said there appeared to be a lot of "passing the buck" and called on the relevant authorities to work together to address the problems faced.
A number of recommendations were made by the committee, which were:
- A report must be presented to the committee in six months on the complaints made by residents from today
- NRW must undertake monitoring of the air quality with Public Health Wales
- The level of Carbon must be assessed to measure the amount of green house gases coming from the site
- Public Protection services must attempt to attend resident liaison meetings
- All parties must produce a report within six months of any issues raised following the meeting
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