Residents have taken legal action against the operators of the North Wales landfill site, but some councillors recently said complaints have decreased
Residents in a long-running battle with a landfill site over the unpleasant smell coming from it are taking legal action against the operators. More than 140 households impacted by the odour coming from Hafod Landfill Site in North Wales recently joined a group legal action against Enovert after legal firm Hugh James agreed to support their case.
The firm said it had agreed to support residents’ action to “ensure that the landfill is operating with due respect to its neighbours without emitting excessive odour levels” following a Senedd Petition’s Committee report published earlier this year.
That inquiry found that monitoring data showed clear breaches of nuisance odour threshold as defined by the World Health Organisation, but not enough that it was considered a risk to public health. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here
Now families from Johnstown, Ruabon and Rhos are looking to take the matter to court. Stephanie Eedy, Partner in the Environmental team at Hugh James, said: “For years, residents have described the serious impact this alleged odour nuisance has had on their daily lives.
“The Senedd committee’s findings now underline the scale of that failure. We are acting for residents in a group claim for loss of enjoyment of their homes and gardens.
“This action is about securing redress for those affected and pushing for proper steps to protect residents going forward.
“This is not about shutting a site down or threatening jobs. It is about accountability, fair treatment and ensuring the community does not have to endure an unreasonable nuisance.
“Some of our clients have described the odour as ‘a very strong gas and rotting stench’ and a ‘smell like rotten eggs and burning’ which is pungent and lasts all day.
“Some have had to cancel gatherings on several occasions, claiming it is impossible to sit outdoors and enjoy weather because of the odour, which lingers on clothing meaning they cannot hang washing outdoors.”
One of the lead campaigners against the landfill site, Steve Gittins, said the problem which has blighted residents for 19 years has not been resolved and claims residents are still fighting to get good air quality data to see exactly what is going on at the site, which has an environmental permit to operate until 2062.
“The air quality data that is supposed to be posted to the citizens page as part of Enovert’s engagement with the community has been unavailable for two months because apparently you need an Enovert password to access it.
“The measurement of fugitive emissions outside of the perimeter of landfill by AQ Mesh pods (technology that samples air quality in real-time) seems intermittent. Then the recent rainfall has led to more leachate – smelly, contaminated water running off the site into the drains. It is still creating real problems for residents.”
A spokesperson for Natural Resources Wales (NRW) which enforces Enovert’s environmental permit, said: “We take residents’ concerns about odour from Hafod Landfill, operated by Enovert, very seriously and recognise the impact this can have on the local community.
“We continue to regulate the site in line with its environmental permit and will investigate reports of potential pollution. The site operator is required to minimise odour at all times, including during planned works, and we expect them to comply with these requirements.
“Ambient air quality monitoring is not required under the environmental permit and data from AQ Mesh pods are not used when assessing compliance.
“The operator has been progressing actions specified in site action plans, including the installation of new landfill gas wells, capping works, and the development of a new cell.
“These measures are intended to enhance landfill gas capture and reduce the potential for emissions and off-site odours. We are monitoring this through regular inspections, data review, and compliance checks.
“Where permit breaches are identified, we will consider appropriate action in line with our Enforcement and Sanctions Policy. We will continue to keep the site under close review and take further action where necessary to protect the community.”
More recently, Wrexham Council councillors said complaints against the landfill site have decreased in recent months. Enovert was commended by members of the local authority’s homes and environment scrutiny committee on Wednesday for initiatives over the previous 17 months to bring emissions under control.
Complaints about nuisance odour have dropped from 548 in 2025 – reaching a peak in January that year of 260 – to 294 thus far this year – once more peaking in January with 174. The overall trajectory of complaints submitted by the public is downward.
Speaking to the committee, James Hladkij, Enovert’s Group Environmental Manager, said: “We had a massive spike in air quality complaints in January 2025.
“As the year went on, odour complaints declined. Unfortunately, they’re still well above the levels that we want and expect.
“In January 2026 again we saw a peak and complaint numbers have slowly reduced.
“For 98% of the time the two off-site community pods measured below the effective detection limit of eight parts per billion of Hydrogen Sulphide, which is the annoyance level.
“Around 96% of the time, the pods were well below that on-site too. So that gives you an indication of the levels we’re receiving.
“Every complaint Enovert receives is investigated where possible and all are logged on our internal systems. We don’t want to damage the community around Hafod.
“We’ve provided all the data and reports to Public Health Wales, who came back and said that they weren’t concerned at the current levels. They did say if there was an escalation in levels they would want to know about it and investigate.”
Rhys Ellie, NRW’s Industry and Waste Regulation Team Leader, noted that monitoring of the site had shifted its primary focus to leachate management.
“Since the start of January, we did 48 off-site odour monitoring assessments,” he said. “These determined that landfill gas odours are more prevalent around New Hall Road and the site entrance.
“The main headline is concentrating on leachate management and infrastructure. We will continue to monitor progress with a key objective of reducing leachate levels to within current permitted limits.”
Cllr Paul Pemberton, who last year criticised Enovert about the odour coming from the landfill site, also acknowledged that progress had been made.
“It’s come on leaps and bounds,” he said. “I have Just one question, do you think the reduction in complaints is caused because complainants felt they were being ignored or feel it’s not worth complaining going forward?”.
“It can take a long time for them to restore their faith in the system.”
Cllr Hugh Jones, lead member for strategic planning and public protection, stated that the decline in complaints was consistent with the data showing reduced odour emissions.
“When you look at the data the odour, which is the source of most of the complaints in the residential areas, is virtually down to zero level and has resulted in zero complaints.
“The data behind the complaint confirms that the smells are effectively disappearing and therefore the source of the complaints has disappeared.”
Cllr John Phillips concurred that conditions in the area were considerably improved compared to January 2025.
“From where we were 18 months ago to where we are today, it’s improved,” he said. “I’d like to pass my thanks on to everyone at Enovert and NRW.
“It’s about keeping that momentum going, continuing to be a good neighbour. I think that is important. I don’t live in Johnstown, but I’m in Johnstown virtually every day and in all honesty, from a personal point of view, I’ve seen a difference.”









































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