Residents reject claims landfill odour problem is improving

Alec Doyle Local Democracy Reporter

People living near a landfill site have rejected claims that the situation is improving – with some saying they have simply given up complaining.

Last week Cllr Dave Bithell, and Lead Member for Strategic Planning and Public Protection Cllr Hugh Jones, said improvements were being made at the Hafod site, with complaints about the odours in Johnstown, Ruabon, Ponciau and Rhostyllen falling from 240 in January to just seven last month.

But residents say there has been no significant change in the odour problems at the site.

“Many of us believe our complaints are falling on deaf ears,” said campaigner Steve Gittins.

“That, coupled with the fact that the smells from the landfill typically ease off in drier weather, is the reason complaints have fallen.

“People see no action. There is a stakeholder group to liaise with Enovert, NRW and Wrexham Council but what’s actually being done to fix the issue?

“We’ve lived with this for 18 years. In all that time nothing was done – now we have to wait while data is incrementally collected and analysed. We need a solution.”

Concerns

His concerns were echoed by other residents.

“I have written numerous letters to complain about this matter for years and years,” said 85-year-old Evelyn Roberts of Johnstown. “But I gave up.

“I have COPD and my doctors tell me I need to get fresh air so I have to go to Llangollen two or three times a week. How disgraceful is that? I am paying my rates to Wrexham Council yet I have go elsewhere for essential fresh air.”

Another Johnstown resident, Jackie Snape, said her 91-year-old mum had called out the gas engineer as the smell was so bad – only to be told it was coming from the landfill, not her boiler.

“My mother lives a five-minute walk from the landfill,” she said. “Recently she phoned her gas provider worried about a leak. The provider tested for gas and told mum it was the smell coming from the landfill.

“While I appreciate efforts have been made by Enovert to lessen the impact of the smells, as soon as the weather gets colder and wetter they will return.

“As an asthma sufferer I am still not aware if any of the fumes coming from the landfill site could exacerbate my condition.”

Mr Gittins also raised concerns about how the emission data is being measured.

“They are using Workplace Exposure Limits (WEL) to measure the impact of the main problem gas – hydrogen sulphide – that comes off the site,” he said.

“The WEL is much higher – 10 parts per billion – than public exposure (5ppb) and is designed to cover people wearing personal protective equipment, which we don’t do in our homes.”

Inquiry

The Senedd’s Petitions Committee is planning  to hold an inquiry into the odour issues at Hafod Landfill following a petition by Mr Gittins.

A spokesman for Enovert said: “We make every effort to continue to operate the site in compliance with our environmental permit and to rapidly address community concerns.

“Similarly, we have engaged with all interested parties to discuss the site and our actions and we recently provided a comprehensive update at the Wrexham Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee meeting.

“It is important that data collected from the monitoring devices provided by both Enovert, on the boundary of our site and that provided by Wrexham in the community is properly assessed, considering weather conditions, for a meaningful impact assessment to be made over and above the monitoring requirements in the site’s Environmental Permit.

“Enovert has appointed an independent company of environmental consultants to review the results of the air quality monitoring so that this can be reported to NRW as the site’s regulator, and we believe this is the correct way in which to report the findings of air quality monitoring data.

“The use of occupational exposure thresholds serves as a useful benchmark in the absence of more localised standards or for comparative purposes.”

Improvement works

An NRW spokesperson added:  “Hydrogen sulphide monitoring off-site is not a requirement of the Environmental Permit.

“Wrexham Council and Enovert have elected to install air quality monitors around the site boundary and at Johnstown Community Centre. We understand that the selection of threshold levels to assess the monitoring data have been determined by Wrexham Council and Enovert in discussion with Public Health Wales.

“A report containing six months of air quality monitoring data has been requested by the Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee.

“Site audits carried out in 2024 identified issues related to landfill gas emissions, which we required Enovert to address through an action plan. We have continued to monitor progress closely, including through a number of unannounced site inspections.

“The number of odour incidents has shown a consistent downward trend as improvement works have progressed. These works have included the installation of additional temporary capping, repairs to existing temporary capping, the provision of further gas infrastructure, the re-sealing of gas and leachate wells and the introduction of measures to reduce emissions around leachate wells.”