Operators of a composting site in Bury St Edmunds have been fined £20,000 for causing smells sometimes described as like ‘vomit, diarrhoea and dog excrement’.
OverView
The Environment Agency (EA) reported that during 2009 the it received 206 odour complaints about the composting site at Shepherds Grove Industrial Estate, Stanton, Bury St Edmunds compared to 21 in 2007 and 5 in 2008. In 2010 there were 50 complaints between 1 January and 4 February.
Smells off site, owned by County Mulch, were detected up to two miles away in Walsham-le-Willows where one retired resident said the smell had worsened in 2009. She said it had spoiled her daily life and recreation and the smell had made her stomach turn over for a minute.
One retired couple from Hepworth, about a mile away, said that in 2009 the smells became more frequent and was ‘putrid, overpowering and suffocating’. They were worried about their health because of it and one of them had been prescribed a drug to ease the nausea brought on by the smell.
While investigating the complaints, EA officers frequently found composting liquor and sludge stagnating on the floor of the buildings and in the yard.
On one particular visit on 11 August an EA officer saw the reception and processing shed was very full and apart from recent deposits, much of the waste in the reception building was old and decomposing and had either been on site for too long or had been in transfer for too long.
An EA officer reported that the building was so full the officer had trouble passing by the odorous material. The floor in the building was in poor condition with sludgy liquid pooling around the piles and there was a foul odour.
An odour review, commissioned by County Mulch on the advice of the EA, identified a number of sources of emissions from the operations and equipment including ineffective biofilters, poor fan sequencing, no air extraction or abatement in the shredding and screening areas, and no odour abatement on the leachate collection tank and lagoon.
Outcome
The EA prosecuted County Mulch who pleaded guilty to allowing the offensive smells off site between 10 August 2009 and 5 February 2010, contrary to Regulation 38(1)(b) Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007.
The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £13,873 in costs.
The EA reported that significant changes have occurred within the company management and on the site in an attempt to improve odour control. The EA is continuing to work with the company.
Read full story here
Source: Environment Agency
