Boothtown Smell progress report 28th June

Over the past two weeks, there has been quite a lot of correspondence mainly with Environmental
Health (EH), but some directly and indirectly with Yorkshire Water. EH have also had some contact
with the company at Swalesmoor Farm.

How residents can help

Were starting with this for ease of reference. So far, the Council has mainly had complaints about
the smell from one person (Dee) and have treated this as an individual complaint rather than a wider
problem. So we need to firm up on information about the number of people affected and the
locations. Responses to the post code request identify that most complaints are coming from on or
close to Boothtown Road.

So, what we need

- At a minimum, please could you email or message one of us with your name, address and
contact info if you have had a problem this year and you are happy for us to pass on your
details. (Email details at end of this note)
- If you would prefer us not to pass on your details, please give the same information but we
will only use your approximate address
- If possible, it would be good if you would also email Environmental Health to make a
complaint. Please give a subject line something like Boothtown Smell issue raised by Cllr
Swift so that it gets linked to other complaints, and give as much detail of recent problems
as you can. Please explain this in your own words, but again it would be helpful if this
included a statement along the lines of, this problem is so bad that it is interfering with my
use or enjoyment of my home (this is the technical definition for a statutory nuisance).
- The best option would be a log of times and occasions when the smell occurs. We
understand this is a bigger ask, but it would help enormously in being able to track down the
problem and find a long term solution.

What we have found out so far

Most of the recent investigations have centred on the possibility that the problem is being caused by
materials entering the sewer system and this creating an odour. This is possible if there is a fault in a
sewer (if the system is working properly it should not be possible for odours to escape into a
property)

Swales Moor farm

They have discharged some materials into the sewer rain water and waste water from one process
since 2014. Under agreement with YW, this material is treated before entering the sewer. Last year
they took part in an experiment to deodorise discharges, but this did not appear to make any
difference and the experiment was discontinued.

There are other activities at Swales Moor Farm that could be the source of the problem. These
include:-
 - Vehicles carrying animal by-products using Boothtown Road emitting odours;
- Slurries are spread on land in the area at certain times of the year;
- Odours may be emitted from operations on the site (these are subject to permits from the
Environment Agency, a Government body, rather than the Council).

Yorkshire Water

YW have been carrying out monitoring and we are asking for further information. As long ago as
2014 they indicated to Dee that they believed they were aware of the source of the problem, and it
is concerning that they now seem to be backtracking slightly on this. So we have asked them to
explain

- Why their position has changed, if it has

- What their current monitoring is revealing
- Whether there are concerns about the conditions of any of the sewers in the area which
need to be addressed through maintenance; and
- What further logging information might assist in demonstrating the need for more action to
be taken.

Highway gullies

Yorkshire Water suggested that the state of Council highway gullies in the area could be a problem.
We dont see that this could cause the kind of odours being experienced but highways have been
asked to carry out a cleaning operation.

Cllr Tim Swift councillor.tswift@calderdale.gov.uk

Cllr Megan Swift councillor.mswift@calderdale.gov.uk