It’s noisy and smells so bad you can’t sit in the garden
DISGRUNTLED residents have voiced their anger over bad smells and noise they say come from the UK’s largest waste incinerator in Runcorn.
Their comments came after the plant’s operator Viridor filed plans to burn even more rubbish.
They said the huge facility in Weston Point has been a nuisance since it began operating in 2015 and a drain on quality of life in nearby residential areas.
There are now fears among the residents that problems such as ‘rotting food’ smells and containers banging late into the evening could worsen after Viridor applied to scrap the weight limit on how much waste the site can import by road to burn, and instead limit by the number of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) deliveries.
If the lorries remain the same size and carry the same amount of waste per vehicle, and the plant is approved the plant would end up increasing the number of lorry trips by 56% and boost the total amount of rubbish delivered to around 1.2m tonnes.
A Viridor spokeswoman has said this is ‘not accurate’ but refused to say how much waste it expects the plant to consume as the firm does not want to ‘preempt the planning process’.
There are also concerns among residents that the permit conditions have been repeatedly changing and being made worse for residents since the plant was approved by energy minister Malcolm Wicks in 2008.
Residents told the Weekly News that their council tax banding has been reduced as a result because their homes have been devalued.
Repeated concerns were raised about smells, with the group adding that the plant operator’s efforts to disguise the odours with deodoriser was also bad, with Sandy Lane householder Sheena Maddock comparing it to ‘cheap perfume’.
They said that some odours are so bad, that some residents they are now embarrassed when guests visit and they have to explain.
The application comes amid other developments in the world of waste incineration, including the long-awaited publication of a study into the health effects of energy-from-waste (EfW) plants, due this autumn.
It was also lodged just a couple of months after the Local Government Ombudsman rapped Halton Borough Council and ‘found fault’ for not investi- gating incinerator smell complaints.
And in July, a cross-party group of MPs has also called for a moratorium on EfW plants being built until rules are tightened.
Viridor has repeatedly maintained that it operates within the conditions of its environmental permit and that efficiency improvements have prompted the improvements but Weston and Weston Point residents remain concerned over a variety of issues.
Ralph Owen, of Weston Road, said his property has a clear view of the plant and suffers light pollution as a result.
He said that under the extra load plans, lorry deliveries will now be taking place every 11.5 minutes, up from about 17 minutes.
Jackie Critchley, said her house on Holloway vibrates late into the evening to 11pm because of rail deliveries passing Runcorn Station.
Residents said that the incinerator site was previously an ICI office and questioned why the plant could not have been situated on a vacant section of the wider Runcorn western shore chemical strip that is further away from homes.
Peter Sadler, of Sandy Lane, said his back garden is 200 metres from the site and said problems are ongoing.
He, and others, fear these will be worse if the plant burns even more rubbish.
Mr Sadler said: “They are still ongoing: odours, smells, rotting rubbish, steam, smoke, dust, banging and crashing of blue containers in the tipping hall, droning and whining noises.
“You can’t enjoy your garden because of this.
“At night I get woken up with noises so I don’t get a good night’s sleep.
“Bringing more waste to the plant is not helping. The situation is going to be worse.”
Sue Bowden questioned how the council could approve an application after refusing a previous similar bid to increase waste limits, that was ultimately passed by the Planning Inspectorate at public inquiry in 2013.
She said: “The last planning application was to increase the heavy goods vehicles.
“That went to public inquiry because Halton Borough Council said no but they didn’t win and we ended up having to have it and (incinerator energy consumer) Ineos won, so how can they pass another application that they’ve refused?”
Sam Bennion said Viridor was supposed to do ‘sniff tests’ but that the Environment Agency refused to give her the results.
She has called for a public inquiry.
She said: “Halton Borough Council keep talking about ‘healthy Halton’ and talking about a 10-year plan, I can’t help laughing.”
Chris Crisp said her postman partner has to regularly ride his bike through wafts of stench.
She said: “Very often in the morning as he goes past the plant, the stench coming out of there is disgusting and we have the noise through the night and day.
“The night’s the worst when you’re trying to sleep.”
A Viridor spokesman said: “Viridor works hard to be a responsible neighbour. The Runcorn Energy Recovery Facility (ERF), like all sites of its kind, is fully permitted and consented, and operates under strict regulations to protect the environment and public health.
“There has been no enforcement action taken against it.
“Runcorn ERF uses safe, environmentally sustainable, and reliable technology to divert non-recyclable waste away from landfill.
“The facility generates up to 70 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power the site itself and around 90,000 homes.
“In addition, it generates 51MW of heat for use by the nearby Inovyn chemical manufacturing site.
“The nature of the waste processed at the site has not changed since the start of operations.
“The Runcorn ERF site makes a significant contribution to the Halton economy.
“It employs almost one hundred people, many of whom live locally, and in addition, more than £2m has been provided to Halton Borough Council so far for a wide range of community-based improvement schemes.”