A composting site has been served with a formal warning from Natural Resources Wales after residents living nearby complained of the smell – but its owners have claimed they have been misjudged.
The Bryn Compost waste treatment facility in Gelligaer was served with an enforcement notice by Natural Resources Wales officers for breaching its permit conditions.
Residents in the Gelligaer and Nelson areas complained of strong odours and an investigation was launched.
Natural Resources Wales found that the company was exceeding the volume of waste it is permitted to keep on the site per year.
The increase in waste, according to the organisation formerly known as Environment Agency Wales, was likely to have been responsible for a reported increase in odour problems at the site.
The company now has to make sure it does not exceed its waste input limits over the next 12 months to so that this type of breach does not happen again.
In addition to this, Natural Resources Wales is also stepping up its regulation of the site to make sure the company is doing everything it can to reduce odour problems at the site and its impact on the community.
Gareth O’Shea, from Natural Resources Wales said: “We regulate sites such as Bryn Compost to make sure that they are complying with the conditions of their permit and their activities are not affecting the quality of life for local people.
“Since we granted the permit to Bryn Compost in 2005, we have regularly reviewed their activities and enforced a number of improvements to operations at the site.
“We continue to monitor operations at the site very closely and will be increasing inspections to make sure these latest improvements are made to reduce the impact of odour on people living in the area.”
Alun Price, Managing Director of Bryn Composting, claimed Natural Resources Wales had its figures wrong with regard to the amount of input waste processed at the site. Mr Price said he would be meeting with officials a week Wednesday to discuss the matter.
He added: “With the odour situation, the complaints are virtually non-existent and we have not got on top of it.”