A NASTY pong which was getting up the noises of residents across North Swindon has reduced significantly following work to limit the amount of gas escaping at a landfill site.

The odour, described as a cross between rotting rubbish and sulphur, had been reported across a wide area, including Redhouse and Ash Brake, from February. Ward councillors worked to get to the bottom of the problem, alongside Swindon Council and the Environ-ment Agency.

Following work at Blunsdon’s Chapel Farm waste site, operated by Hills Waste Solutions, Swindon Council says the odour has significantly reduced and Coun Emma Faramarzi (Con, Priory Vale) says the complaints she is aware of have fallen from nearly every day, to one in the last month or so.

In a recent update on the situation, the Environment Agency said: “In March 2013 our investigations found that landfill gas was escaping from the active tipping area of the site, where newly delivered waste is deposited. This active tipping area consists of an older and a newer section.

“To reduce the amount of landfill gas escaping and causing an odour, the site operator took the decision to cover part of the older section with a clay cap. This work was completed at the end of March.

“The operator also installed 11 new landfill gas extraction wells in this older section of the active tipping area. These wells allow landfill gas to be safely extracted from the deposited waste and then to be burnt to provide electricity.

“These new wells started to collect gas in April and are now being slowly, and safely, brought up to their full extraction capacity.”

The agency said Hills also installed two gas extraction wells in a newer section of the active tipping area, allowing gas to be extracted while waste is deposited, and planned work to install a final clay cap over the older section.

It concluded: “We believe that this mitigation action should reduce the level of landfill gas escaping from the site.

“This should therefore reduce the level of odour.”

A Swindon Council spokesman said council officers isolated the source of the smell to be in a straight line northwards into open countryside containing, pretty much, only the Hills site.

He said: “This involved plotting a trail of the odour against wind direction and using local knowledge. The data was then given to the Environment Agency, which has the regulatory powers to deal with such complaints.

“We have been informed that remedial works have been put in place and the odour has been significantly reduced as a result.”

Coun Faramarzi, who visited the site with Coun Toby Elliott (Con, Priory Vale), said: “It’s drastically reduced. We haven’t got as many complaints as we used to. It used to be every few days or daily.”

The Environment Agency is asking residents to report any future odours via its hotline 0800 807060.

A spokeswoman for Hills said that while the Chapel Farm site was identified as being one of a number of potential sources of the odour, Hills did agree an action plan with the Environment Agency to mitigate against any potential odours from it.

She said Hills holds regular liaison meetings with the community and encourages residents with any concerns or complaints to make contact via www.hills-waste.co.uk/contact-us