Mum, 40, horrified after family plagued with nose bleeds and headaches from ‘noxious’ landfill site
A MUM has been left horrified as her family are plagued with nose bleeds and headaches from a “noxious” landfill site just 100 metres away.
Suzi Stringer, 40, lives in Newcastle-under-Lyme where the fed-up community of Silverdale have been blighted by the disgusting stench from the Walleys Quarry.
Stringer, who moved to the area with her husband, Dan, in 2016, can see the “mound” of stinking rubbish from her daughter’s bedroom window.
The mum-of-two compared the horrific smell to “rotting flesh” and “out-of-date meat”.
Many residents have sealed their letter boxes, window frames and even chimneys with tape in an attempt to keep out the stink.
Stringer said she desperately tried to sell their house at the start of last year to escape the stench – but Dan then lost his job due to the impact of the Covid pandemic.
The mum-of-two told Staffordshire Live: “On a normal day there is a faint odour like you have left your bin open.
“But on a bad day, when the wind is blowing from there and there is cold air, it makes you physically wretch and we get really bad headaches.
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“When people make deliveries they say ‘what the hell is that smell outside your house?’
“It smells like faeces, rotting flesh, out-of-date meat, and a used bag of nappies. It’s an eggy smell.
“There’s a certain smell we get every now and again which is a really acrid chemical smell that burns the back of your throat and makes your eyes sting.”
Stringer said the smell has gradually got worse over time “invaded” the family home.
And the family suffers from frequent headaches, coughs, nose bleeds and nausea.
Our children are being gassed in their beds. We’re being poisoned, and no one is doing anything about it.
“On the day my daughter was born we had one of the worst weekends of stench. I bought my daughter home to a house that smelt of rotten eggs and faeces,” she said.
“I was driven to despair with the smell as my stepdaughter and my baby used to cough every night.
“On numerous occasions I’ve packed up my family into the car in the early hours to escape the smell.
“We even tried to sell our house, but with my husband losing his job during the pandemic we were left in an impossible situation.”
Stringer has now been forced to install a £2,000 air purification system – the same system used in the White House – to help clean the air and neutralise the stinking odour.
HIGH COURT CHALLENGE
Local residents have now come together for a High Court legal challenge against the Environment Agency over the noxious smells.
The case is being brought by the family of a five-year-old Mathew Richards after a medical expert found the pollution is shortening the life of the young boy who has a health condition.
The EA said hydrogen sulphide levels recorded at the Walleys Quarry site, Red Industries, exceeded World Health Organisation guidelines.
Mathew’s mum, Beckie Currie, 41, said: “Our children are being gassed in their beds. We’re being poisoned, and no one is doing anything about it.”
Thousands of complaints have been made to Newcastle Borough Council over the stench coming from the landfill site.
GPs have report worsening asthma and a spike in mental health issues, while teachers claim their pupils suffer headaches, nausea and concentration issues, Daily Mail reports.
And mental health support is now being offered to residents who live near the site, provided by Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Jennie Collier, managing director, said: “People living in the area around Walleys Quarry who contact the service are reporting the odour from the site is having a detrimental impact on their mental health.
“This has manifested itself as depression, anxiety, stress, sleep disorders and other issues.”
In February, Simon Tagg, the leader of the borough council, said the local authority had been trying to address the issues at the site for a “considerable” amount of time.
Tagg said: “While the council has no direct powers to close down operations at the landfill, the situation is so important to our communities – and not just the people living close to the site because complaints come from miles around – that we have to take swift, independent action and bring in specialist skills and the advice of industry experts.”
RED INDUSTRIES RESPONSE
The landfill site has been run by Red Industries since 2016.
The company previously said it has accelerated “an extensive capping programme which will seal a substantial and extensive area of the site”.
A spokesman told Staffordshire Live: “We have, and continue to, operate our facility in compliance with our environmental permit and planning permission.
“The Environment Agency has previously carried out and published results from two reports into ambient air quality in Silverdale.
“Each time they concluded all emissions were below the relevant air quality strategy objectives for human health and environmental assessment levels. A conclusion we accept.
“The facility continues to be effectively regulated and monitored by industry specialists at the Environment Agency, with whom we engage fully, professionally, and cooperatively with, at all times.”
The Sun has contacted Red Industries for comment.