Sludge Watch ==> PHEW! What a stinker - UK - sickening stench

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Looks like UK residents get the same run around from regulators and the 
sludge industry as in North America.  The Health Dept says the farmer is 
abiding by the regs.  Then they say he is exempted from the regs regarding 
storage on site. Then they say they are spreading it right away (so what is 
with the storage exemption?) and then they say they are checking the regs 
and monitoring to see if they are being followed.

Huh?

Odour has physiological effects.  Smelling things sets off reactions in the 
body.  The smell of food...sets off salivary glands.  The smell of fecal 
waste creates a stress reaction to leave.  The US military has been 
experimenting with odour related crowd control technology and found that the 
smell of human fecal waste is effective at crowd dispersion.

We know.

Odour isn't just a cosmetic or inconsequential issue.  It is a health and 
environmental issue.

...................................................................................

Wed 4 Apr 2007


Residents kick up stink over smell
Published on 04/04/2007


PHEW! WHAT A STINKER: Alan Heaton of Hawcoat in Barrow with his son Matthew 
(centre) and his friends Alex Bayliff (left) and Reece Carlisle, who can’t 
endure the pong of a local farmer’s field anymore JON GRANGER REF: 0380625IT 
was the question that dominated large parts of Barrow yesterday — what’s 
that awful smell?

And the stench was worse in Hawcoat. Householders there say the sewage smell 
left them feeling sick.

Alan Heaton was one of those to contact the Environment Agency about the 
overpowering odour of waste being spread at Sinkfall Farm, in Rakesmoor 
Lane.

Mr Heaton, 52, of Bowfell Crescent, said his sons and their friends had not 
been able to play outside.

He said: “It’s absolutely disgusting. It was terrible yesterday. It makes 
you feel sick.

“The kids are on their Easter holidays and they can’t go out and play 
because it makes them feel sick.

“My in-laws could smell it from Newton. I don’t understand how it can be 
allowed.”

Barrow Borough Council’s Environment Health Department and the Environment 
Agency have received complaints about the smell.

But both say farmer Brian Armistead, of Sinkfall Farm, is abiding by the 
regulations.

Gary Ormondroyd, chief environmental health officer at Barrow Borough 
Council, said: “An officer has visited the premises. The farmer has approval 
from the Environment Agency to spread sewage sludge on his land. He is 
abiding by the regulations and complying by best practice.

“We will speak to the Environment Agency about this and let them know we are 
getting complaints.”

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency, said: “We have had a number of 
complaints from neighbours reporting a smell of sewage in the vicinity of 
their homes. The Environment Agency has spoken to the farmer and he is 
spreading treated sewage sludge under The Sludge (Use in Agriculture) 
Regulation 1989. What he is doing is within this regulation and he has a 
exemption which is paragraph 8b of the Waste Management Licensing Regulation 
for storing that sewage at his farm. The Environment Agency is monitoring 
the work to make sure the farmer is complying with the legislation.”

The owners of Sinkfall Farm are using local Barrow waste which has been 
processed in the town.

Lynn Armistead, of Sinkfall Farm said: “It does make an odour when moved, 
but we are spreading it and then ploughing it immediately. We could not do 
it any faster.

“It is our local waste, that has to be got rid of, the waste has to go 
somewhere. We are not bringing it in from somewhere else, it is our local 
waste on our local fields.”



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