THE worst of the Redhill pong will soon be over – but it will never be gone for good.
The Environment Agency revealed on Tuesday that Biffa – which runs the landfill site in Cormongers Lane – has now fully complied with the enforcement notice it issued in April, demanding it take action over the stench emanating from the site.
But the news may come as a shock to some residents who complained about the smell at the weekend.
The stench generated hundreds of complaints at the start of the year and became so bad the hashtag #biffawhiff became popular on Twitter.
On Saturday, Philippa Ratcliffe tweeted: "Is it me or is #biffawhiff surfacing again tonight?"
After 36 complaints were received about the smell in January, which were followed by hundreds more over the following weeks, Public Health England and the Environment Agency were called to investigate.
Officers put an enforcement notice in place calling for immediate action after finding Biffa had failed to control the release of landfill gas which caused the stench.
On Tuesday, the Environment Agency announced most of the remedial work is done and only minor developments are needed to capture further gas, which is causing the lingering smell.
Narinder Sokhi from the agency said: "Biffa have now complied with our enforcement notice. A site inspection last week identified a few areas where minor works need to take place in order to capture further landfill gas, but overall the site infrastructure has improved.
"Odour complaints have reduced to a sporadic, low level and can be subject to weather conditions."
When pressed on why the smell remained over the weekend, she said the final work should eliminate most odours but they cannot be completely avoided due to the nature of the site's work.
During the agency's initial investigation, one area of the site was found to have no gas infrastructure in place to capture odour.
Biffa claims the capping of this area is due to start on Monday, bringing the site up to standard.
Biffa spokeswoman Julie Fourcade said: "Biffa continues to undertake routine works on site to improve gas collection and is still undertaking additional gas monitoring and off site hydrogen sulphide monitoring."
She added: "Complaint numbers have decreased considerably over the past two months, however we will continue to work hard to reduce the potential for the future emission of odours.
"We continue to provide regular updates and information to the Environment Agency."
