Withyhedge incident management team stood down as 'situation improves'

Western Telegraph

22-04-2025

An Incident Management Team (IMT), comprising of Natural Resources Wales, Pembrokeshire County Council, Public Health Wales and Hywel Dda University Health Board was set up in February 2024 in response to complaints going back to October 2023 about the odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill.
The landfill closed temporarily in May last year, reopening on January 6 when all compliance required by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) was said to be complete.
An update from NRW this week said that the IMT has now been stood down as there are 'far fewer reports of odours' and pollution levels remain below the limits set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This combination of factors shows that the 'situation has moved beyond incident response' says NRW.
A dedicated system set up to report odour and gas from the Withyhedge site has also been decommissioned. However, residents can still report via NRW's online incident form or by calling 0300 065 3000.
Independent air quality monitoring in the area will continue for the next year, funded by landfill operator RML. Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) said that it will verify the results to ensure transparency.
The static monitor at Spittal School will also remain until April 2026, with weekly results being provided to PCC and data collected compared with WHO guidelines. However Public Health Wales (PHW) will no longer review this data on a regular basis.
PHW says that the data from Spittal School between January 26 and March 30 showed 13 occasions when hydrogen sulphide concentrations in the air were above the WHO odour annoyance guideline value. However, all 13 occasions were on the same day and there had been no exceedances for the seven weeks to the end of March.
Other air monitoring in the area has not recorded any occasions when hydrogen sulphide concentrations in the air were above the WHO odour level.
Air monitoring undertaken using diffusion tubes has also not identified levels of hydrogen sulphide above longer-term guideline which is based on lifetime exposure.
'We are reassured that the air monitoring data has not shown evidence of an ongoing, long-term risk to the health of the community,' said PHW. 'As a result of this evidence, coupled with the significantly lower number of complaints received by partners, PHW will no longer review the data on a regular basis.'
NWR has said that it will continue to monitor the landfill site with unannounced inspections to assess compliance against the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) Permit. Its investigation into issues identified at the peak of the odour incident continues.
RML has also applied for a variation to their permit. NRW said that a public consultation will take place as part of this.
All members of the former incident management team have said that they will monitor communications they receive regarding Withyhedge Landfill and share between organisations if appropriate.