Meat plant pollution under fire

AN ANIMAL rendering plant which has been ordered to deal with an odour problem is now in trouble over noise pollution.

Local residents have been angered recently by smells coming from the plant and now say there is so much noise it is equivalent to living next door to an airstrip.

The factory at Ferrybank in Waterford has been ordered to repair part of its odour abatement system after the Environmental Protection Agency received 35 complaints from the public over the past year.

And over the past week the EPA has received a written complaint from a resident living near the controversial Waterford Proteins plant alleging it is causing constant noise pollution.

A spokesman for the Larry Goodman-owned plant says the company has repaired its back-up odour abatement system and it now believes the problem has been rectified.

The EPA has confirmed the company is taking action but warned it will continue to “keep an eye” on the plant and will consider taking legal action if the odour problem continues.

Most of the complaints about bad smells from the rendering plant were made this summer, which prompted the EPA to carry out six unannounced odour inspections since June 24.

EPA spokesperson Niamh Leahy said their inspectors found there were odours coming from the site.

She pointed out that most of the complaints arose at times when the rendering plant’s odour abatement system went down or had to be shut down.

Resident Afra Cronin last week wrote to the EPA complaining about the level of noise pollution from the plant and outlined several other concerns she had about the facility.

“When the facility is working the noise is such that we cannot hear ourselves talking in the gardens, and indoors at night the windows must be closed. It’s like living beside a jet aircraft air strip,” she wrote to the EPA.