Waste stench 'making residents ill' inquiry told

Residents' homes have been "invaded by a stench so strong" from a nearby waste recycling site it has made them "physically ill", a public inquiry has been told.

Wakefield councillor Michelle Collins told the hearing the smell from the Mineral Processing Ltd facility, also known as Minore, in South Elmsall had "disrupted people's lives".

The inquiry was launched after Minore appealed against enforcement action taken by the Environment Agency (EA) to stop it using the site over concerns it had caused a health hazard.

The decision came after hundreds of residents complained about the smell, dust and litter coming from the Hacking Lane plant.

Collins, councillor for South Elmsall and South Kirkby, told the meeting: "South Elmsall is a proud former mining town.

"Our landscape still reflects industrial legacy – ash pits, spoil heaps and land that has been worked, reworked, and too often abused.

"The people here have always shown resilience. But resilience should never be taken as an invitation for exploitation."

A revocation notice for the site - barring Minore from importing materials to the site and extracting ash - came into effect on 4 July, but was appealed by he operator.

According to documents, almost five times the permitted amount of materials had been stored on the land.

The permit allowed a maximum of 50,000 tonnes to be stored at the facility.

However, information provided by Minore between 2016 and 2023 revealed there were 233,772 tonnes at the site.

As part of the revocation notice the EA also called for the removal of at least 180,000 tonnes of non-inert material.

Collins said: "This is a colossal disregard for the permit system, for environmental law, and for people who live closest to the site."

She said when the EA issued the suspension notice, residents believed tipping would stop "immediately".

"But that is not what happened," she added.

"For days and days, wagon after wagon continued to enter the site."

Addressing residents at the hearing in Pontefract, Collins said: "Your lives have been disrupted. Your health has been affected. Your homes have been invaded by a stench so strong it has made people physically ill.

"You have been treated unfairly. You have been treated dismissively and you have been treated without the basic respect that every resident deserves."

The councillor urged the inspector to keep the revocation notice in place, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Jon Trickett, MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, said there was a consensus the odour had worsened since the suspension.

"People have told me that they want to sell their houses. But the value of their houses have been impacted by the operation on the site," he said.

Minore previously said it was "disappointed" with the decision from the Inspectorate.

A spokesperson for the operator said: "Currently the site is excavating materials and processing them, which is not in contravention of the notices issued by the EA but in compliance with them."

They added: "Our employees have been working at the site for over 12 years and now fear for their jobs due to this escalation in action against the site on human health grounds when none of our employees have ever been affected."

The hearing continues.

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