I kept smelling a horrible nasty smell': the risks of England's old dumping grounds

"I just kept smelling this horrible, nasty smell like animal excrement, and I was wondering what it was, says Jess Brown, from Fleetwood, Lancashire. Brown's mother suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and she believes the smells make it worse. She also worries for her eight-year-old daughter, whose asthma worsens when the odour seeps indoors. The stench was traced to the Jameson Road landfill, reopened by Transwaste Recycling & Aggregates Limited in late 2023, after the previous owners Suez stopped accepting waste in 2017."

"The Environment Agency says that reopening longinactive landfills can release gases including hydrogen sulphide, which produces a rotten egg odour. Determined to act, Brown launched a Facebook group that quickly drew more than 4,000 members reporting headaches, nausea, and breathing problems. Thousands of odour complaints followed, prompting an enforcement order in April 2024 to curb hydrogen sulphide emissions, which have been linked to health problems including respiratory and eye irritation, as well as neurological and cardiovascular effects."

"After partial compliance, Transwaste resumed tipping at the site, which sits in an erosion and flood zone on the banks of the protected River Wyre. This prompted a second enforcement order six weeks after the first. In March this year, the company's licence was suspended until new gas extraction infrastructure was installed. This took place in April, and topsoil is still being added to the site to reduce emissions."

Residents in Fleetwood have reported persistent rotten-egg odours since Jameson Road landfill reopened in late 2023. The emissions are linked to hydrogen sulphide released when long-inactive landfill sites are reopened. Complaints included headaches, nausea, breathing problems, and worsening asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among vulnerable residents. Thousands of odour reports and local organising led to enforcement orders in April 2024 and a subsequent second order, followed by licence suspension in March until gas extraction infrastructure was installed in April. Topsoil continues to be added to reduce emissions. The Environment Agency reports pollutant levels generally within health limits, though odours persist. Fleetwood is classed as a deprived area and has twice the national average of chronic respiratory diseases.

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