Waste firm blames landfill stink on Storm Eowyn

Residents have said the "rotten egg smell" is so bad it is making them ill

A waste company has blamed a "toxic stench" at a Lancashire landfill site on the recent Storm Eowyn.

Transwaste said the odour at its site in Fleetwood should be gone once repairs are completed.

The company said the smell had been unleashed when capping had been torn off by high winds.

But the town's MP said complaints about the stench went back 12 months.

Transwaste said the Environment Agency regulates it with unannounced visits

Labour MP Lorraine Beavers told the House of Commons on Thursday that people had been complaining of nose bleeds breathing problems and vomiting.

The landfill site, on Jameson Road, had been giving off a "rotten egg smell" since last February, Beavers said.

Transwaste said the original odour problem was caused by installing new equipment when it took over the site in 2023.

That released a "temporary odour" as old waste was disturbed after six years, but the gas capture infrastructure and new capping solved the odour problem, the firm said.

"Unfortunately, during the record-breaking winds of Storm Eowyn, the capping was ripped off, allowing odour to escape.

"We have been working to repair and restore the capping and we expect this to be completed within the next few days, when we anticipate things will return to pre-Christmas conditions with no odours."

The Environment Agency (EA) said it was monitoring progress as Transwaste carried out repairs.

At environment, food and rural affairs questions in the Commons, Ms Beavers said: "The people of Fleetwood and Thornton and beyond have suffered from toxic stenches for the last 12 months.

"Last night was extremely unpleasant, with residents reporting nose bleeds, breathing problems, headaches and vomiting this morning.

"What can the Government do to ensure the Environment Agency have much stronger powers to deal with landfill sites that bring daily misery to residents, like those living in my constituency of Blackpool North and Fleetwood?"

The EA expects the odour issues to reduce within the next seven days, environment minister Mary Creagh responded.

Transwaste was issued with a suspension notice in May after odour issues at the site last year.

This was lifted in August after the EA assessed that all conditions were met.

Transwaste said the EA regulates it with unannounced visits, drone flyovers and odour monitoring.

The firm said a UK Health Security Agency representative deemed the levels of landfill gas at the site "very low" and "well below the level to cause any health effects" in September.