Residents who live beside a Perthshire chicken processing factory claim the stench emanating from it is so bad some have been physically sick.
An official complaint has been lodged with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) by those troubled by the stink from the 2 Sisters Food Group site in Coupar Angus, despite the company recently installing a series of measures to try to control the problem.
One of the enraged residents, Maryann Lochrane, said she reported the stench to Sepa during the festive season and described the smells coming from the chicken factory over the past few weeks as “rank.”
“The smell has been awful the past couple of weeks again,” she said.
“They must have waited until things died down before they let this happen, thinking no one would bother.”
Kim Coram added: “I can smell it sometimes through the day but mostly at night it’s really bad.”
Anne Gall, who lives near the site, claimed the smell is so bad at times that she can’t open her door or windows in her house.
She said: “I can’t open my door for that horrible smell – it makes you feel sick. It’s time they did something about it.”
Carolyn Brown said: “The smell from the factory at times was ridiculous before Christmas. Some nights it was so bad I was actually sick.”
A spokesperson for Sepa said: “Over the Christmas and New Year period Sepa received one complaint from a member of the public regarding a strong odour from the Coupar Angus chicken factory.
“A Sepa officer attended the same day and detected a faint odour only. This visit was made within an hour of the call being made to us.
“We have since contacted the company about this complaint and our discussions are on-going about the abatement of odour issues from their processes.”
Sepa had issued a final warning letter to the 2 Sisters Food Group in August last year regarding offensive odour from the Coupar Angus factory that had been substantiated by their officers out with the site boundary. This was classed as a breach of the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit for the factory.
As a result, Sepa required the company to submit an action plan detailing improvements to stop offensive odours being emitted from the site, and ensure compliance with the PPC permit was achieved.
The 2 Sisters plan was submitted on September 30, and in the short term the company has undertaken to improve key parts of the odour abatement system for the tanks and feather shed, increase use of covers on skips and containers, install automatic door closers, have more pro-active maintenance of drainage systems and update operating procedures and maintenance plans.
Furthermore, 2 Sisters has committed to the installation of odour abatement on the de-feathering department, including the scalder units. Sepa has stated this will require investigation and a considerable amount of investment but stressed it is still scheduled to be completed by the end of May.
A 2 Sisters spokesperson said: “The site is continuing to roll out their improvement plan and is in regular contact with Sepa.”
