A firm that blighted a Perthshire community with unpleasant odours has been criticised by an environment watchdog.
TEG Environmental, which operates at Binn Farm in Glenfarg, is one of three local businesses to have fallen foul of pollution regulations from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
Both TEG and SITA, which operates Binn Landfill at the same location, were criticised in part for the negative impact their operations have had on the nearby village of Abernethy.
Helicopter repair business Vector Aerospace at Almondbank also received a “poor” rating in SEPA’s 2010 client assessment scheme report.
However, a number of businesses across Perth and Kinross received the top “excellent” rating and local politicians have welcomed the fact that none were found to have contravened guidelines at the most serious level.
SEPA said each of the three firms rated as poor had taken significant steps to address the issues raised in the report but also noted that some concerns remained.
In January TEG Environmental was fined £14,000 after bosses admitted a string of environmental breaches that left residents in Abernethy virtual prisoners in their own homes.
The fine was imposed at Perth Sheriff Court after the company ran into problems with Scotland’s first commercial-scale composting facility, which it operates at Binn Farm.
TEG admitted four charges of polluting, three of breaching odour regulations and one of allowing leachate to escape. The business has permission to turn green waste, including fish waste and sewage sludge, into compost in silos, with the resulting compost largely used in agriculture for soil improvement.
However, during 2010 SEPA was flooded with complaints from residents who told of a “sick, sour smell” and “a silage-type smell, only worse,” while others reported that “it smelt like something had died.”
SEPA officers also found pools of liquid to the rear of some buildings, with readings taken from these 10 times higher than authorised.’Overwhelmed’ by wasteAt the time the firm said it had been “overwhelmed” by the volume of green waste received under a contract from Perth and Kinross Council, although bosses said they took their environmental responsibilities seriously and deeply regretted the release of odours and leachate.
TEG said it has made significant improvements at the site since the incidents were reported, costing over £1 million and bringing its investment at Binn Farm to £3 million. Meanwhile SITA’s site there was classified as poor for a variety of reasons, many of which have apparently been addressed.
SEPA officers noted issues with leachate levels but said plans were in place to deal with the “repeated minor breaches of these levels.”
Various other minor breaches of pollution regulations were also noted, particularly with regard to “a lack of or inadequate litter nets, cover material and asbestos disposal methods/cover.”
Repeated breaches regarding odours were also noted during inspections and substantiated following complaints from the community.
In the report SEPA notes that SITA “carried out several emissions surveys” during the course of 2010 in order to identify areas from which gas could be leaking and had undertaken remediation works to resolve any elevated gas levels found during the surveys.
Vector Aerospace’s poor rating was put down to the business exceeding the emission limit for “volatile organic compounds” but SEPA said significant changes had already been proposed and agreed that they should address the issue.