Neighbours kick up a stink over clinical waste
BUSINESS OWNERS DEMAND END TO PUNGENT STAND-OFF
Pungent smells were emanating from the building. You might get a pong for an hour, other times for days
BUSINESSES close to the “abandoned” Newcastle site at the heart of the body parts scandal have called for action to address the current stand-off.
Healthcare Environmental Services’ (HES) collapse has meant operations have stopped at their base on Chollerton Drive in Benton, Newcastle.
Stockpiles of clinical and pharmaceutical waste remain on site, as well as anatomical waste stored in fridges.
Redundancy notices were issued to 50 staff at the Benton Base on December 27 – meaning waste has not been treated for at least a fortnight.
The Environment Agency has confirmed HES are in breach of environmental permits at six sites nationwide, and the body is undertaking a “criminal investigation”.
Business owners and managers have spoken of a “horrendous” smell from the facility plaguing the industrial estate for the past three years.
Now, they have called for action to be taken.
Alan Holden, manager at Carlton The Feed Merchants on nearby Humshaugh Close, said: “We want it cleared up quickly. How much longer is it going to take?
“It’s not as bad right now as it would be in the summer. Before you could definitely smell something coming from there, a weird kind of sweet smell.
“Everyone here is in the same situation. People have read or heard about it and are aware of what’s happening.”
HES lost its contracts with NHS Scotland and 17 NHS trusts in England but previously denied it was responsible for stockpiling body parts.
The English and Scottish health boards cancelled their contracts causing the firm’s collapse.
A former Newcastle-based employee shared pictures taken over the course of several months in 2018 of mountains of waste at the Benton site, and claimed it still had not been removed.
Simon Glover, owner of business park Number 33 on Bellingham Drive, said the centre has been logging complaints about the smell from the HES’s site for the past three years.
He said: “We have fought it for a long, long time and have been logging complaints with the Environment Agency and keeping a log book.
“Pungent smells were emanating from the building. Sometimes you might get a pong for an hour, other times for days throughout the week.
“It was this acrid, bitter smell. It almost turned into something quiet sweet. It’s been a nightmare. We did lose a client once when she came to sign and caught the smell, and this news story means people are much more aware.”
The issues with the “pungent” smells from the HES site has stopped since the company ceased trading.
Mr Glover added: “For us now, we’re very close to the end.”
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has also launched an investiga- tion to establish if criminal offences have been committed at HES sites in Dundee and Shott. The Health Service Journal revealed last year excess waste, including human body parts, reached 350 tonnes at the firm’s facility in Normanton, West Yorkshire – five times more than the company’s 70 tonne limit.
Former workers remain in limbo over unpaid salaries and holiday, and waste currently languishing at the site has been confirmed to be secure. But neighbouring business owners and managers are calling for the standoff to be resolved sooner rather than later. Robert Youngman, manager of Ruskin Sea Foods next door to the facility, fears the impact the deadlock would have if the situation remains the same in the warmer months ahead.
He said: “This is only going to get worse. We’ve got a cash and carry where people come in and out, and if the smell get worse then it will affect our business. You wouldn’t got to an Asda if there were fumes pouring out of a recycling centre next door. It needs to be sorted as soon as possible.”