NATURAL Resources Wales has issued an update after meeting with council and health officials over issues with odours coming from the Withyhedge Landfill Site.

Campaigners protested outside County Hall in Haverfordwest on Wednesday.

They said their lives have been affected since late last year by smells from Withyhedge Landfill Site - describing it as like "a stink bomb on steroids".

People living up to four miles away say that they have been unable to open their windows or let their children play outside since October, while the smell has even been reported as far away as St Davids.

On Wednesday, a multi-agency incident management team meeting was held, including representatives from Pembrokeshire County Council, Public Health Wales and Hywel Dda University Health Board, to discuss Withyhedge Landfill site.

“All authorities acknowledge and empathise with the impact this prolonged odour issue is having on members of the communities that surround Withyhedge Landfill,” a Natural Resources Wales (NRW) spokesperson said.

“This is a complex and ever-changing situation, and partners are working extremely hard to reach a point where the odour problems are resolved.

“NRW officers attended the site on Monday, April 8.

"It appears, from a visual assessment of the work undertaken on site, that the required capping work and gas well installation has been completed by site operators, RML, in line with the deadline of the S36 Enforcement Notice, issued by NRW on February 13, 2024.

“However, this can only be fully assessed by NRW once survey and construction validation reports have been submitted.

"The operator is now preparing these and once received, a formal assessment will be undertaken.

“The authorities will review the findings and revise their action plans where appropriate.”

Western Telegraph: Stop the Stink campaigners braved the rain outside County Hall in Haverfordwest to demand that the problem is fixed.Stop the Stink campaigners braved the rain outside County Hall in Haverfordwest to demand that the problem is fixed. (Image: Western Telegraph)

Natural Resources Wales had issued site operators RML with an enforcement notice back in February giving the company until April 5 to sort out the odours from the site.

NRW visited the site on Monday, April 8, to see if compliance had been reached and to inspect the area.

Since that site visit, NRW and Pembrokeshire council have increased odour monitoring in residential areas, and other possible areas on site where odour may be coming from have been identified.

RML submitted plans to address these on April 10, which are now being considered by NRW.

It has also commissioned an independent party to carry out air quality monitoring, with Pembrokeshire council and NRW providing technical advice in support of this work.

The first round of diffusion tubes monitoring results detected Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) at one of the 10 monitoring sites – which often produces a smell like rotten eggs and can come from the breakdown of waste materials in landfill.

Public Health Wales has advocated for further air monitoring to take place as soon as possible.

Natural Resources Wales has asked for residents to report any instances of odour from the landfill – at the time of the smell rather than retrospectively – using: https://bit.ly/reportasmellwithyhedge.