Pilsworth stink has gone, says landfill site operators

After months of foul smells detected around a Pilsworth landfill site, the stench has now gone, according to the site operators.

Residents of Heywood and Bury have complained of the odours that have caused some to feel physically sick. There have been health concerns relating to this – which the Environment Agency (EA) says it is monitoring. 

Valencia Waste, which runs the landfill site next to the M66, has been subject to a wide range of criticism, with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham joining Rochdale and Bury’s council leaders calling for Valencia to have their environmental permit for waste activities removed.

A Valencia spokesperson said: “We have undertaken significant engineering work at our Pilsworth South site, installing capping and enhancing gas capture infrastructure. The site has no areas of uncapped waste, and the landfill gas collection system is functioning well.

“Our internal and third-party contractor monitoring has found that there is no odour from our site detectable in nearby communities. We will continue to undertake this monitoring and respond as required should this situation change.

“Valencia would like to thank local people for their patience while we undertook our engineering works.”

During a meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on 22 March, Mr Burnham said the situation was ‘not acceptable in the slightest’. He added he has met with officials from the EA and UK Health Security Agency to resolve the problem site.

The EA has installed new monitoring facilities to track air quality around the Pilsworth landfill site. But they confirmed there are no plans currently to remove Valencia’s licence.
 

Read more: Environment Agency investigating after hundreds across Heywood and Bury complain of ‘foul smells’Published: 19 January 2024

When questioned by the Local Democracy Service, an Environment Agency spokesperson said: “The site is under no sanctions and we are not in the process of revoking the environmental permit.

“When the monitoring period finishes there will be a period of a few weeks to analyse the data and for a report to be produced. The data will then be shared with the UKHSA who will also examine the data to determine whether any emissions discharged in that time could constitute a risk to health. 

“Currently, the operator is not accepting any waste; during this time we will continue to liaise with the operator in order to ensure that they are working to the best available techniques to mitigate against odour when they do start accepting waste again.”

At the start of May, the EA installed a Mobile Monitoring Facility (MMF) at Our Lady and St Pauls RC Primary School, which is near to Pilsworth South Landfill Site. The MMF will not replace officers who continue to conduct odour checks in the local area to determine if the site is compliant with the conditions of its environmental permit.

The data captured will enable them to build a detailed picture of the air quality in the area and determine what impact the Pilsworth South landfill site is having on local air quality. 

According to the EA, landfill gas contains trace components such as hydrogen sulphide that, even in very small quantities, has a strong smell of rotten eggs, which the human body is very sensitive to. The government body advised that although the smell caused by the trace levels of hydrogen sulphide gas can be strong and unpleasant, it does not automatically mean that it is harmful.

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter