Over 100 people gathered at Newton Rigg on Wednesday evening for a Community Liaison meet hosted by the Leo Group, owners of the Omega Proteins plant situated to the west of Penrith. The event aimed to address residents’ concerns over odours and shed light on the company's operations, community support initiatives, and investment in the Penrith community.
Mr. Danny Sawrij, owner of the Leo Group, provided an extensive overview of the company's activities at the Penrith site and the Leo Group operations around the world. He acknowledged that some attendees were present to learn about the company’s "odour techniques and strategies," referring to recent complaints of odours.
Mr Sawrij also disclosed that in July the environment agency who also attended the meeting had received 334 odour-related complaints in Penrith although the Environment Agency have confirmed that they have not linked all these complaints to the Omega Proteins plant.
It was also revealed that the Environment Agency are actively monitoring odour issues at several other organisations and sites around Penrith as well as the Omega Proteins site.
Mr Sawrij emphasised that the company wants to be a good neighbour and work with the community and asked the residents in the meeting to help the company to address any odour issues by as well as calling the official Environment Agency odour hotline number to also call a special dedicated line operated by the Leo group for the Omega Proteins plant that has 3 dedicated odour inspectors who will attend within the company aims 15 minutes to any site in Penrith area that an odour has been reported to them to assess and identify if the company is the source and to help them respond in real time to issues.
The Company asked that residents take a note of some key points to help the company address odour issues when reporting via the company own hotline.
Time noticed?
Where noticed?
Duration?
Type of odour?
Strength from 1 - 6?
Continual / intermittent?
Have your noticed it before?
Is it still there?
Also speaking at the meeting Joanne Wheatley the Leo Group Technical Manager said “We want to resolve any issues we cause straight away, Importantly, we want to stop it ever happening again”.
”If you smell an odour, phone our Hotline straight away. If there's no answer, please leave a voicemail. Help us by providing accurate detail.”
She then outlined that this would enable the company to quickly respond and enable them discuss the issue direct with those experiencing any odours and that it would help the company to understand environmental conditions in real time and ascertain where the odour is coming from and if the Omega Proteins factory is the likely cause, The inspectors can immediately report to the site for them to investigate root causes and quickly rectify issues quickly.
The company dedicated Hotline number is 07976 857 435.
Mr Sawrij added that despite the Environment Agency having received 334 complaints in July the company operated hotline had received 36 calls in July and that if people call the company hotline as well as the Environment agency so an Omega odour inspector can come and investigate odour so that "If our factory is the likely cause, we can immediately report to the site investigate and get to the bottom of the root cause".
During his presentation about the company and the Penrith site Mr Sawrij reaffirmed the company’s plans announced during the Pandemic to build a district Heat Network that would supply clean sustainable heating to approximately 3,000 homes in Penrith using steam from the factory to heat homes using a system already used in other parts of the world.
Details on how the factory operates and the materials along with improvements made to the factory since the Leo group purchased the site in in 2002. Including details of a water filtration plant constructed that now means that no water is wasted or discharged into the sewerage system with the water filtered to a cleaner standard than that discharged by United Utilities into local rivers. The Omega Proteins factory now reuses 100% of all water onsite for the factory operational process.
Mr Sawrij then outlined what the factory produces from the materials that are brought to the site from the food industry that would have traditionally ended up I landfill sites.
The materials including chicken feathers and materials from the processing of meat are through the factory process broken down into three components Water, Protein and Oils.
These are then used around the world as raw materials for a range of products from cosmetics to animal feeds to Bio Fuel used in aviation produced by the Leo Group.
Details of how the company is working to create sustainable aquaculture practices to help preserve the biodiversity of the oceans and protect the habitats of wild fish populations were outlined in a shocking revelation that globally 34 million tonnes of fish harvested to produce 3.4 million tonnes of fish meal 1.4 million tonnes of salmon for human consumption.
The Leo Group through its sustainable feed production produces 2,500 tonnes per week of Oils and Meals used in creating Aqua Feed with the processed animal products have a better nutritional profile compared to vegetable proteins and not rely on the capture of fish stocks from our oceans saving 4.2 million tonnes of raw fish annually.
Mr Sawrij then outlined how the company is at the cutting edge of helping in the fight against climate change through the companies circular economy role helping Airlines who are being tasked with using cleaner, more sustainable fuel that is seen as the only way of decarbonising the long-haul, large aircraft industry.
Oil is sent from the Leo Groups UK factories including the Penrith Omega Proteins factory to the companies own refinery in Belgium to be processed into Bio Aviation Fuel (HVO) for use in the global Aviation sector.
British Airways has committed to using 1.5billion litres of HVO annually by 2030.
Leo Group currently produces 105 million litres of the sustainable aviation fuel.
The meeting was then opened up for residents to speak, One resident of Castletown said that they were being forced to keep their windows shut and could not hang washing out on the line.
One resident said she also a believed that smells from the factory were making them her ill both mental and physically.
Another Penrith resident who had moved to the town in the last year said Penrith was a lovely place to live and it was trying to develop itself as a hub for Lake District tourism but “B&B’s and hotels in the town have received nasty reviews on the online review site Tripadvisor about the smell. How are we supposed to develop Penrith in this way if it stinks” she asked.
The Company was asked about the company’s odour inspectors and the process of reporting to the company’s hotline. The company agreed to a request by a resident to give feedback on all reports to the hotline and details of any issues found or actions taken to those reporting to the hotline.
One of the company’s odour inspectors had attended to speak at the meting about the role and what they do however it was disclosed that the lady had received an abusive call from a local resident that had resulted in her been unable to stand and speak in the meeting.
One gentleman said the had lived in Penrith for 40 years and that the odour was not anywhere near as bad as 20 years ago and odour issues had greatly improved.
A resident attending the meeting from Newton Reigny asked a question about materials spread on local farms owned by the company. This was explained to be a liquid fertilizer produced via anaerobic digestion not materials from the Omega Plant. And is a fertiliser used by farmers across the country.
An Environment Agency Spokesperson has said in a statement to Penrith.Town
"Following increased reports of odours from Omega Proteins, our officers have been carrying out increased monitoring and visits of the site to determine the source of the smell and make clear that the company must take action to address any issues which could be leading to this.
"Our investigations into the source are ongoing and we continue to encourage members of the public to share any concerns or new reports with us."
The Environment Agency has also said that the 334 July odour reports received by the agency have currently not all been checked or attributed to any specific source of odour emissions at either Omega Proteins or other locations around Penrith.
The Leo Group's Community Liaison meeting provided a platform for open dialogue between the company and the community, addressing odour concerns and showcasing their dedication to environmental sustainability and responsible operations.
The company agreed to hold a second meeting in two months to update on issues raised and provide a community update on current development work to install a new air filtration facility as part of additional odour abatement at the plant expected to be completed and operational by the next meeting date.
The Environment Agency national incident hotline number is 0800 80 70 60
The Leo Group dedicated hotline for the Omega Site a Penrith is 07976 857 435
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