RESIDENTS have called for action to be taken over the “horrendous stench coming from mounds of muck” at a council’s green recycling centre.

People living in the villages of Kelloe, Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill say the stink from the Durham County Council composting operation at the former Joint Stocks landfill is making their lives unbearable.

Kelloe parish councillor Gary Firth said: “It’s sickening and just ruins some days. The first thing in the morning you open the door and bang it’s there. People are trying to sit in their garden, but aren’t able to because of the smell.

“The site used to be a landfill and they are siphoning off the methane. Someone has had the bright idea of creating compost there and selling it.”

Mr Firth said waste from brown bins was being placed on a concrete slab about the size of a football field and being turned over to create compost.

He added: “The heaps are so big they have to keep turning the green waste with a digger. They have been doing it for a year.

“The council promised me they would sort it out, but they have never done so.

“They have little towers and are spraying water on it, but it’s not working at all. I have had tours with the manager and I have seen for myself - they just cannot cope with it. If they cannot control it they will have to close it down. It’s as simple as that.”

Mr Firth said Mirth said residents had lived with smells for nearly 50 years ‘but this is just unbelievable’.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “Environment Agency officers are investigating reports of odours from the Durham County Council composting operation at the former Joint Stocks landfill site in Coxhoe.

“We take reports of nuisance odours from regulated sites very seriously as they can be extremely distressing for those affected.

“Durham County Council must take appropriate measures to minimise the impact of odours from its operation on the neighbouring community. If such measures are not taken and significant pollution is identified, a permit breach may be recorded and further action may be taken.

“We would urge anyone that continues to experience these odours to report it to us immediately on 0800 807060.”

Oliver Sherratt, Durham County Council’s head of environment, said: “We take any complaint of this nature very seriously. We work closely with the Environment Agency, the regulatory body for waste, to make sure we operate our site in accordance with our environmental permits.”

“We have a full odour suppression system and weather station operating on site, which we use to limit odours being detected off site. All activities that could result in the creation of odours are stopped if our weather station indicates that wind direction or other factors could result in an odour leaving our site.”

 

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