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A Warrenpoint campaign group have collected over 2500 signatures in a Petition calling for the removal of the Re-Gen Waste waste operation from Warrenpoint Port.
'Rotten to the Point' want the operation removed due to what they claim is "an ongoing foul smell nuisance/health hazard which hangs over so many lives in Warrenpoint" The group say they have asked for a meeting with DAERA Minister Andrew Muir but that he has refused to meet them.
The group are now organising a 'Solidarity Walk and Peaceful Protest' on Thursday 15 August outside the facility. They also have an online petition up at my.uplift.ie
A group spokesperson said "We, the members of The Rotten to the Point Campaign Group who have been highlighting “The Evil Smell” case in Warrenpoint for almost a year and have now collected over 2500 signatures on our petition calling for the removal of the Re-Gen Waste Ltd waste operation from Warrenpoint Port, have written to DAERA Minister Andrew Muir today to explain why we feel badly let down by his refusal in a letter of 25/7/24, to accept our request for a meeting to solve the ongoing foul smell nuisance/health hazard which hangs over so many lives in Warrenpoint and has been extensively documented in public meetings as well as print, broadcast and social media since last summer."
The spokesperson continued "In our message to Minister Muir, we state that NIEA officials apparently continue to tolerate a stench which has been at its strongest over the last few days, unfortunately coinciding with two upcoming major festivals coming to our town of Warrenpoint. We have made it clear that this intolerable foul smell and plague of flies rising from the open-air storage of odorous waste is harming our town and the Carlingford Lough area generally.
The group believe that the stench and storage issue of waste is an example of ongoing non-compliances of the condition in Northern Ireland Environment Agency’s 2023 licence. The spokesperson said "the terms state that odorous wastes are only permitted "if stored in buildings providing containment of aerial emissions.” Countless recordings of witness statements from residents, Councillors, MLA’s and an MP combined with hours of time-stamped drone footage provide ample evidence that these waste piles in Warrenpoint Port are most definitely odorous and are clearly and very visibly stacked in the open-air, not in buildings."
Minister Muir met with local elected representatives in July but not with members of the group. "We have also asked Minister Muir to explain 'precisely which factors made it more appropriate to meet them' (the elected representatives) than to meet us, particularly as his meeting included representatives of Sinn Fein, a party represented on the Board of Warrenpoint Harbour Authority - the body which hosts the Re-Gen waste operation in Warrenpoint Port." the spokesperson added.
Rotten to the Point also explained to the Minister that the issue of Re-Gen non-compliance is not their invention, "his NIEA officials have been documenting Re-Gen non-compliances of the NIEA licence since last summer - a matter which NIEA clearly noted with concern in writing as far back as September 2023 in an email to Sinn Fein’s Sinead Ennis." the group state.
"The Minister’s letter of 25/7/24 to us states that: "My officials have considered those concerns and will take appropriate and proportionate action to ensure that Ren Gen comply with the conditions of their waste management licence…”).
Almost a year later the group think nothing has changed. "We have asked him to explain the reason for the delay, particularly given that NIEA was already expressing concern at non-compliance last September.We acknowledge that the best brains and efforts of NIEA, Warrenpoint Harbour Authority, NMDDC and Re-Gen Waste have been applied to finding a solution to their combined creation and implanting of the stench debacle in Warrenpoint.
"For almost a year now, we have respected their combined requests for patience in solving the problem but our patience and respect, like their best efforts, have not been rewarded."
The group spokesperson added "Fortunately, we can provide the Minister with a solution to the problem which has been proposed and agreed by representatives of the three political parties attending the sole South Down General Election hustings which was held in Warrenpoint on the 26th of June 2024.
"That solution, to end the Re-Gen Waste open-air waste storage operation in Warrenpoint, has also been underwritten by the multiple signatures which we propose to present to the Minister if he is prepared to meet us during or before our Solidarity Walk and Peaceful Protest when people who feel that the democratic process has now been exhausted take to the streets in Warrenpoint on August 15th, meeting outside WHA Headquarters at 6:30pm for a walk to the entrance of Warrenpoint Port."
Newry.ie contacted both Re-Gen Waste and DAERA for comment. An NIEA spokesperson said: “Minister Muir met with elected representatives from the area on 9 July 2024 to hear concerns received from their local constituents. Several actions were agreed and are being taken forward by the NIEA. The Minister also committed to ensuring that elected representatives were kept updated on progress.
“Further correspondence has been received from the ‘Rotten to the Point’ group concerning its meeting request, which is being considered and a response will be issued in due course.
“The NIEA monitors compliance of the ReGen Waste Limited (ReGen) facility through a scheduled monitoring programme. The agency most recently inspected the Regen facility on 23 July 2024 and its assessment was that ReGen was in compliance with its waste management licence conditions. NIEA wants to reassure the local community that its monitoring will continue and that the agency will not hesitate to take necessary enforcement action if there is evidence of failure to comply with the licence conditions.
Re-Gen didn’t want to comment at this stage.
