There is no doubt about it – the composting plant at Deersdyke is responsible for the noxious smell that has engulfed our community. This pungent smell is affecting local businesses and the residential community alike. We thought the disused sewage plant that occupied the site until 2003 was bad enough but over the past few months the smell from the Scottish Water plant at Deersdyke has become intolerable. In fact over the past couple, of months I have received several complaints from residents and businesses within the Westfield area asking what can be done. At times the smell is so bad that residents cannot hang out their clothes to dry or enjoy a family barbecue on the rare days when the sun decides to shine. Instead, choosing to remain indoors and use their tumble dryers for fear of vomiting. This smell is unacceptable and therefore I contacted Donald McBrayne (waste services manager at the plant) to find out what exactly was the problem and more importantly what he was doing about it.
I had a meeting with Mr McBrayne this afternoon and Councillor O’Brien was in attendance, as he has also received several complaints as well. The meeting went well and Mr McBrayne acknowledge that there is a smell from the composting process but he also said that his organisation were investing £7,000,000 in the development of an Anaerobic Digester and that this should be fully operational by April 2010. Hopefully this should reduce the smell significantly.
Just to give you some background and what Mr McBrayne didn’t say. I should point out that I am not an expert but this is how I understand it. There are two methods in which composting takes place. One is Aerobic which involves aerating and this is usually what you would do with your compost bin at home. You would turn it over and allow oxygen to aid the process. When done properly there is a lower smell from this type of operation but is not really feasible with large units like the Deersdyke facility. It also creates a greater dust pollution which in my opinion is much more hazardous to our health. Therefore the Deersdyke facility has chosen to go down the Anaerobic route which has an increased odour control problem but is both commercially and environmentally superior to the aerobic method. However, Mr McBrayne mentioned his £7,000,000 investment that will enclose the Anaerobic composting and therefore reduce the problem of the smell. In other words because it is closed the smell will be filtered. Hope that makes sense?
There are additional factors that have exacerbated the problem of the smell and these are not the fault of the Deersdyke facility. The rape of our landscape for the A80 upgrade with the removal of the trees has channelled the normally diluted smell to reach our residential area and this coupled with the seasonal nature of green waste and hot an humid weather have all added to the problem. Hopefully the A80 will be replanted and the Anaerobic Digester is operational then the smell will return to an acceptable level. The Anaerobic Digester will be operational by April next year.
The Deersdyke plant has many environmental and social advantages to offer the businesses and residents within Westfield area and as such we should give the proposed improvements a chance to prove themselves. However, people and businesses cannot be expected to put up long term with this noxious smell so even though Deersdyke facility has Local, National and European support on their environmental issues, if the Anaerobic Digester and other methods we discussed today fail to reduce the smell to an acceptable level then we will put pressure on SEPA to revoke their license.
There are laws with regards to odours and these are enforced by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency but at this point in time the management at the Deersdyke facility are compliant. In other words they are operating within their license but, as I interpret it, only because they are investing in the methods highlighted above. If these methods fail then I would strongly recommend that complaints be made to SEPA.
- SEPA’s Pollution Hotline – 0800 80 70 60 – available 24/7
We will be watching and waiting and normally I would say don’t hold your breath but in this case I would suggest that you do or at least when passing the Deersdyke facility.
Your comments are always welcome.
westfield 