On the night the Christmas lights went on in the south Down port town of Warrenpoint, families were forced to leave because of the smell, according to a local councillor.
Independent representative Mark Gibbons said he received 54 complaints about the odour swirling around the town on that night alone.
“It was absolutely mortifying. I had no answer. Some of the people had to take their families away from the lighting of tree,” Mr Gibbons said of the November 25 event.
A couple of weeks later a public meeting organised by a recently formed activist group, Rotten to the Point, was held in the town, coming months after the “big stink” first enveloped parts of the town in late August.
It comes back intermittently and questions need to be answered about exactly what is happening, said Mr Gibbons, who along with many residents have no doubt the smell is coming from Warrenpoint Port.
A video that really shows the scale of the rubbish in the docks that have us closing windows and doors and see the large level of fly infestations that affect residents, workers, and businesses around Warrenpoint .
Posted by Rotten to the Point on Tuesday, 29 August 2023
Those attending the meeting lay most of the blame on one of the north’s largest waste renewal companies, the Newry-based Re-Gen, but also direct trenchant criticism at Warrenpoint Harbour Authority for allegedly failing to call the firm to account.
“During the summer, Re-Gen accepted partial responsibility for an odour in Warrenpoint Port and took immediate remedial action which included double wrapping bales, increasing use of a food-safe deodoriser, and accelerating shipments from the port,” Re-Gen said in a statement.
However, in response to a question about what caused that part of the odour the company did take responsibility for, Re-Gen added: “It was unclear what exactly caused the odour issue in Warrenpoint in the summer.”
The waste being moved through the port in what locals believe in increasing quantities is refuse derived, mostly from industrial or commercial sites.
In the north, there are no facilities to turn this particular type of non-renewable type of waste and it is shipped out, mostly to Scandinavia, where there are facilities to turn it into fuel.
Re-Gen insist a local consultancy was appointed to conduct an investigation and its report concluded the odour from the company’s operations “is extremely rare, and when existent, is very faint”.
Residents in Warrenpoint say a terrible smell is causing them problems - so what can be done? https://t.co/aqCuBA5FL7 pic.twitter.com/28vzKWednI
— BBC News NI (@BBCNewsNI) October 6, 2023
Numerous other operations in the area “are capable of causing odour, including sewage facilities to name but one example”.
But the people of the port town insist they know their smells and where they come from, and believe the burning question is how this particular stink was only noticed in August.
A newly upgraded waste water treatment plant is in the final stages of completion. It is some distance away from the town centre, close to where port is situated.
South Down MP Chris Hazzard said he has made it clear to Warrenpoint Harbour Authority “that public patience has run out; the status-quo is unacceptable and they must leave no stone unturned in order to rebuild trust with the local community”.
“Our local community should not have to live with anti-social issues like foul smells as a result of harbour activities,” Mr Hazzard said.
“The local community in Warrenpoint is united in our call for robust, immediate and meaningful action in order to address this issue.”
Warrenpoint Harbour Authority’s chief executive issued a lengthy statement following December’s public meeting and is asking for people to wait on a report commissioned by the agency and is due to completed early this year.
Chief executive David Holmes said: “Whilst WHA is absolutely committed to public dissemination of the recently commissioned independent environmental investigation early in the new year, we have no wish to frustrate our neighbours in the interim, with potentially inconclusive answers.
“We have an open-door policy and have actively encouraged our neighbours to speak to us directly if they have an issue.
“WHA is asking for a little more patience in what it believes will be an improving situation, so that full transparency can be shared in a few weeks.”
Mr Holmes added that the presence “of intermittent odours emanating from the port are not as a result of any negligence nor misappropriation of WHA”.
He said: “We do however, accept our responsibility in helping to secure a resolution to these matters.
“We have been challenging our tenant ReGen daily on this issue to refine their processes, despite that throughout this period the licensing body, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, has confirmed that ReGen are compliant.”