More than 70 town residents packed into a community centre last week to air concerns about the Penrith Pong.
It was standing room only at the Castletown Community Centre on Monday night as people turned out to kick up a stink at a special public meeting.
This followed a large increase last month in the number of complaints made about odour nuisance from the Omega Proteins plant to the Environment Agency.
The meeting was organised and led by Jeff Thomson, of Fresh Air for Penrith, and dozens of attendees signed up to the campaign as he called on residents to direct all complaints of odour incidents to the agency.
Mr Thomson told the audience: “The EA is the key to bringing an end to the pong. They are seeking to identify the specific source of the odour leaks and then get them stopped.
“We all know we are here because of Omega Proteins, which is owned by the Leo Group. But from the outset I must make it clear that Omega Proteins does not admit to being the source of the pong, and I have solicitor’s letters to prove that — it’s just alleged.”
The statement raised laughs from some in the audience, and there were supportive murmurs of approval when he said people sometimes had to get up in the middle of the night to shut windows they had left open “because of the stench”.
In response this week, the company said its own “odour checkers” conducted tests several times a day, seven days a week, to test and verify the source of “various odours at different locations”.
A company spokesperson said: “This helps us to identify problems that may not be reported so that we can act and rectify them.
“It has also verified the existence of other odour sources in the area for which we are sometimes wrongly blamed. In fact, as early as 2021, the Environment Agency had announced that it was monitoring and investigating up to eight different sites in the Penrith area for odour problems.”
The Herald asked a number of questions of the EA this week but it said its responses had to be limited in order not to prejudice “ongoing investigations” into the source of the smells.
The agency did confirm there had been more complaints made about the odours coming from the factory, which had led to “increased monitoring of and visits” to the site.
At the meeting, a Wetheriggs resident told how the period from 4-45 to 5-45am was often “horrendous”. Some audience members complained of putting up with smells from Wildriggs 35 years ago while playing out as children and now having children of their own who had to bear them.
Others voiced concerns about any possible health implications and whether that was being “monitored” by any particular organisation.
Recent offal spillages were also raised with a member of the audience telling the meeting that they found a sheep’s foot outside the plant.
Mr Thomson said residents at Newton Reigny had also contacted him about odours from a horrible-smelling “sludge” spread on land at Newton Rigg, following its purchase by Leo Group, which owns Omega Proteins.
Mr Thomson was elected to Penrith Town Council in May to represent Penrith West as an independent, but stressed that he was not speaking as a councillor.
Asked to comment, Penrith Town Council confirmed that it had no legal authority over odour nuisances or any powers to intervene.
A spokesman said: “Penrith Town Council has no statutory function in relation to Omega. We are a statutory consultee only in relation to planning applications and the Environment Agency are responsible for the granting of permits and enforcement.”
As reported last week, EA figures show that compared to earlier this year, complaints soared to 223 in June, with 161 in July, 114 in May.
Mr Thomson implied that the reason for last month’s rise was because “the plant is currently working to full capacity”. He claimed wagons containing abattoir waste were queuing outside, rather than being taken indoors.
This was put to the company but it did not address it in its response.
It will host a public meeting of its own at the Newton Rigg Campus today (2nd August) at 6.30pm. Attendees must first email community@leogroupltd.co.uk
At this week’s meeting, complaints were made about the continued “huge expansion” of the Greystoke Road plant when long-standing issues remain unresolved. Councillor Mike Eyles, of Westmorland and Furness Council, told the audience that the council could only refuse planning applications on “valid planning grounds”.
“The Environment Agency are the best placed people to enforce the permit,” said Mr Eyles. One man told him: “The council keeps agreeing, agreeing, agreeing and the smell is getting worse and worse and worse.”
Mr Thomson called on Westmorland and Furness Council to take a “big picture” approach to the company’s various planning applications. These should not be decided locally but by its higher level strategic development panel, he felt.
At the meeting, there were even calls for the pong to be called the “Penrith stench” to better describe it. Mr Thomson said the turnout to the meeting had been “fantastic”.
Responding, Omega said it had invested £100 million over the last 10 years and sought “continuous improvement of odour control”.
It said cutting-edge technology is now used which meets industry guidelines and the “best available techniques”.
It said: “To remove stronger odours from the air extracted directly from the process equipment, we use thermal oxidisers that combust all odorous compounds at temperatures in excess of 850C. Chemical scrubbers and large bio-filters are used to treat the less intense indoor air of buildings.”
The statement said the company took all odour complaints “very seriously” and investigated those reported both to the company and the Environment Agency, with which it worked “closely”.
The spokesperson said: “To constantly monitor perceived odours emanating from the factory, we employ three odour checkers who aim to attend the location of an odour complaint within 15 minutes. When our odour checkers arrive on site, there is usually no smell, or the complainant comments the smell has “just stopped”.
Sometimes we can also say with certainty that the smell is not coming from our site because the wind is blowing in a completely different direction. However, if they notice an odour related to our operation, we immediately try to determine the cause and take the necessary corrective actions.”
The EA number is 0800 80 70 60.
