I visited Merseyside’s ‘toxic town’ where the smell is ‘strong enough to chew’

For several years, a ‘rotten egg’ and ‘sewage’ odour has blighted several close-knit communities in Kirkby who have described the smell as ‘strong enough to chew’.

Numerous complaints have been submitted to the Environment Agency about the odour coming off a waste mound on the Simonswood Industrial Estate (SIE) on the border of Knowsley and West Lancashire.

The issue is complex in terms of local authority jurisdiction as the SIE lies within the West Lancashire council area, overseen by Lancashire County Council, and the vast majority of impacted residents live in Kirkby in the borough of Knowsley. It is also a difficult place to travel to as it sits off a winding country road – with only the huge waste pile as a point of reference on the horizon.

After publishing multiple reports about the odour issue and hearing numerous complaints, we decided to visit the SIE to assess the situation first-hand. We also wanted to investigate which company was managing the pile.

As we parked up on Stopgate Lane, the first thing we noticed was the overpowering smell of sewage and the passing clouds of dust and debris. It became immediately apparent where the problems are arising from.

There is fly tipping at the entrance and vast mounds of waste material stacked up and visible over the fences. The roads within (and immediately outside) the entrance to the industrial estate are caked in debris which is then whipped up into clouds of dust every time a HGVs passes by – which is every few seconds.

The LDRS understands this is a point of serious concern for Knowsley Council’s environmental health teams who believe these dust clouds are travelling into residential areas and coating people’s homes. In the winter of 2021, the local authority excavated 60 truck loads of material from the highway verges around Stopgate Lane and Pingwood Lane at a cost of £55,000.

The residential areas around Pingwood Park are a five minute walk away from the SIE and when we drove around those areas – the smell was just as strong as it was directly outside the industrial site.

To allow for a description of the odour better informed with experience, we contacted the ‘Stop the Simonswood Incinerator’ campaign group who also raise awareness about the issues with SIE. The group have taken a prominent lead in organising protests against the environmental health impacts and use a Facebook group to share information and updates.

Asked to characterise the smell, campaigners gave a series of vivid and unsettling descriptions. Eleanor Claire Rigby said: “It’s disgusting and smells like bad eggs. It’s often in the house of a morning even with windows closed.” She added: “I used to love sitting in my garden in the summer but the smell is so overwhelming. It is strong enough to chew sometimes.”

Chris Houghton commented: “Smelly and disgusting, it smells like bad eggs, gas and sulphur. I can’t even sit in my garden and enjoy the sun and the kids are constantly feeling sick. It’s absolutely disgusting, you can’t even open your windows to get fresh air in as it smells that bad. It’s been ongoing for so long. This town is starting to become like toxic town.”

Dion McLeod shared a similar sentiment, she said: “Just been watching Toxic Town on Netflix and I’ve got a feeling we sadly could experience something similar in the future.”

One of the most common concerns for local people is around the potential health implications and is summed up by a comment from Angela Arlink who said: “Putrid bad eggs, sewage and chemicals, hard to describe, but you feel nauseated, like you’ve swallowed it as well as breathing it in.

“It gives us headaches and the anxiety of not knowing exactly what it is and how it may harm us and our local environment. My cat came home smelling of it today, as it was so strong and the posties remarked on it also.”

Local media has reported on several of these complaints and there has also been a scathing Knowsley Council report however, according to residents, very little has been done to address the issue. One of the issues has been actually confirming the source of the smell and its location.

The LDRS can now reveal that waste management operators, Windmill Services Ltd is the company which has been issued with an enforcement notice by the Environment Agency for compiling 300,000 tonnes of excess waste on its site. The company told us that they are doing everything they can to deal with the situation at present.

Because the business is not based in Knowsley, Knowsley Council has no direct power to intervene. Monitoring and regulation of these businesses falls either to Lancashire County Council and/or the Environment Agency, depending on the type and size of each business.

Nonetheless, Knowsley Council identified that Windmill Services had planning permission for a 5 metre high waste mound, but said this agreement was breached by the increasingly large scale of the mound – estimated to be in excess of 20 metres.

Cllr Tony Brennan, Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development & local Shevington Ward Member, said: “We remain committed to doing everything we possibly can for our residents who have endured long standing issues with dirt and dust caused by the storage of waste on this estate.

“It’s completely unacceptable that this business should have been carrying out these activities for so long without the proper permissions.

“We have persistently challenged any planning applications that come forward for waste uses on this site. Indeed, since September 2022 there have been four such applications submitted to Lancashire County Council and all bar one were submitted to Lancashire’ Development Control Committee with a recommendation for approval.

“We have made the case strongly on behalf of our residents in opposition to these applications, and whilst the committee resolved to approve the first application, of the remaining three, two were refused and one was withdrawn by the applicant because it was due to be refused.

“As well as opposing any new applications we are continuing to apply pressure on the regulating authorities of Lancashire County Council, […] and the Environment Agency to ensure that the day-to-day activities of the waste businesses on this estate are properly monitored and any breaches such are enforced. Storage mounds are not meant to exceed 5m yet one of them must be 4 or 5 times that height.”

After contacting the Environment Agency (EA), the LDRS understands the site is regulated by an environmental permit and an enforcement notice has been issued to Windmill Services Ltd and remains in force – compelling it to remove excess waste amounting to an estimated 300,000 tonnes.

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The EA are aware of the impact of the odour on local residents in both Knowsley and West Lancashire and confirmed it continues to carry out ‘targeted odour monitoring’. The EA added it is grateful for the ‘diligent reporting’ about the issues and encourages people to keep using its incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 when odour is noticeable.

A Lancashire County Council spokesperson did not name Windmill Services – referring only to a ‘business’ on the Simonswood Industrial Estate, they said: “The county council served an enforcement notice on the business owner, requiring that stockpiled materials that are currently far too high and in breach of planning permission and the waste permit, be reduced in line with the permitted levels.

“We understand that work is now taking place at the site to reduce the height of these materials and to bring them in line with regulation.”

A spokesperson for Windmill Services Ltd said: “We are sorry to hear that residents have raised concerns.

“We wish to emphasise on our clients behalf that everything possible is being done to minimise any impact on the community as all efforts are focussed on striving to remove material from site, this includes limiting any odour or dust with regular monitoring and appropriate measures adopted in line with Environment Agency guidance and approved environmental management systems.”