Residents raise a stink over Dairyold plant smells
SMELL DESCRIBED AS ‘LIKE SEWAGE GONE WRONG OR DEAD ANIMALS ‘
MALLOW residents have been kicking up a stink about foul odours emanating from the Dairygold premises on the West End of the town.
The EPA has confirmed to The Corkman that it had received four complaints “in relation to odours from the facility” between May 9 and 28. During a visit to the site inspectors found that Dairygold was ‘in non-compliance’ with licence conditions relating to odour - but the co-op has moved to remedy the situation.
WHILE Dairygold’s multi-million euro expansion of its West End plant in Mallow was widely welcomed, locals have been kicking up something of a stink over recent weeks about foul odours emanating from the premises.
The Municipal District Officer for Cork County Council’s Kanturk/Mallow area, Liz Donovan, said the issue came to their attention after the authority received several complaints about the smell from members of the public and through local public representatives.
She said they raised the matter with the council’s environment directorate, who in turn contacted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Among those to raise the issue was Cllr John Paul O’Shea, who said he had personally received a number of complaints about the smell, which had been lingering over the western side of the town for a number of weeks.
Members of the public also contacted C103FM about the smell, with one caller saying it was like “sewage gone wrong or dead animals”.
“It was awful, I was going around with my fingers up my nose and my mouth covered. I was heaving,” a lady called Bridget told the Cork Today show.
The EPA confirmed to The Corkman that it had received four complaints “in relation to odours from the facility” between May 9 and 28.
During a visit to the site inspectors found that Dairygold was “in non-compliance” with licence conditions relating to odour.
It is understood these related to both the waste water treatment site and the factory.
The EPA has written to Dairygold on the issue requesting responses by a specified date.
“The EPA has opened two compliance investigations in relation to the matter. Dairygold is required to undertake a series of corrective actions to ensure that odours from the activity do not cause a nuisance,” said an agency spokesperson.
“The EPA will monitor Dairygold’s progress in undertaking these actions and will continue to enforce Dairygold’s licence in accordance with the EPA’s enforcement policy. Complaints from members of the public about licensed facilities are a valuable source of information for the EPA. Any person can make a complaint online at www.epa.ie.”
In a statement, Dairygold said it had been “positively addressing” issues relating to its waste-water treatment plant facility in Mallow.
“We recently undertook a review of the plant and implemented a programme of works to alleviate intermittent odours from the plant. Dairygold can confirm that three site audits were carried out by the EPA in May during the period when Dairygold was actively working to resolve the issue,” read the statement.
“The society has taken this matter very seriously and believes that the situation has improved. Dairygold continues to monitor the situation to minimise the risk of any repeat occurrence,” it concluded.
Cllr O’Shea said he was glad to hear that the matter was being addressed.
“The Dairygold expansion in Mallow was welcome and it is understandable that they could encounter some teething problems,” he said.
“I am glad that the company is taking the appropriate action needed to permanently resolve this issue.”