Minister aware of smell complaints
Approximately 25 complaints were received by Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) last weekend regarding a noxious odour emanating from Warrenport Port and engulfing the town on Saturday, June 28 as the Wake the Giant Festival was in full swing.
During Members Questions at Monday's Stormont Assembly Sinéad Ennis MLA raised 'the ongoing issue of the foul stench that has engulfed Warrenpoint town for the past three years.'
Colin McGrath MLA asked Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister Andrew Muir “what specific actions the Minister's Department is taking to put a stop to those smells, which have been horrendous over the past seven days?”
Mr Muir said the NIEA's waste management licensing team “received a significant number of communications — approximately 25 — regarding odours from the harbour.
"The odours are referred to as being principally from creosote and Jeyes Fluid... The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has received some reports that suggest that a significant number of telegraph poles were unloaded at the harbour, and they are being stored on the quayside that is closest to the town. I have that report, and I will speak to the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency this afternoon about it.”
After Ms Ennis questioned DAERA and NIEA decision to “allow Re-Gen to store tens of thousands of tons of putrid black-bin waste in close proximity to people's homes”.
Mr Muir said: "I am very conscious of people's concerns on that, and many are rightly at the end of their tether. I will speak to officials this afternoon, including the chief executive of the Environment Agency.”
Full story in this week’s Newry Reporter