Residents still cannot breathe easy as landfill site capping delayed

Odour from Lower Melville Wood still blights community

Plans to cap a Fife landfill cell emitting a foul smell have been delayed for weeks.

The strong odour from the Lower Melville Wood landfill near Ladybank has blighted the community for years and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) served an enforcement notice on site operator Fife Resource Solutions (Refsol) which required it to improve the capping and gas collection system to prevent the escape of noxious gas.

While a deadline for completion of the works had been set for March 9, it has emerged the operators have requested, and been granted, a five-week extension because of adverse weather.

Responding to the news, North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie said local people will be angry the situation is continuing beyond the timescale expected.

“It will mean they have to endure the suffocating stink for even longer,” he said.

“Surely it was predictable that it would rain and be windy in the winter, so the council and Refsol should have planned for this.

“We need a proper solution as people have just had enough.”

North East Fife Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain said proper action is “long overdue” and she had written to Sepa asking the watchdog not to accept the request for an extension.

“It is hugely disappointing that Fife Resource Solutions have failed to address the problems at Lower Melville Wood.

“It is distressing for the community that they’ve not taken their concerns seriously. It is not fair to expect people to carry on living in this polluted air.”

Sepa say officers will continue proactive odour assessments around the site, while Robin Baird, chief operating officer of Fife Resource Solutions, said action is being taken.

“We want to work with the communities involved and have offered to meet with local people and businesses monthly,” he said.

“We work to the highest standard and are accelerating work on capping the present site, and installing a new gas well, to further reduce the odours.

“Sepa is the environmental regulator of this site and is reviewing our improvement plan. Once Sepa has approved the plan we will publish it.”

“It will mean they have to endure the suffocating stink for even longer.

MSP WILLIE RENNIE

Lower Melville Wood landfill site has been emitting a foul smell for years.