‘Vile’ smell prompts mushroom plant protest

RESIDENTS living close to a mushroom plant in Killeeshil are planning on staging a protest outside the facility this week, over what they say is the “unbearable smell.”

Members of the recently-formed Cabragh Concerned Residents Association (CCRA) have warned that the situation facing local people has worsened. They are calling for urgent action to address the problem of a “vile odour” coming from the Northway Mushrooms facility on the Aghnagar Road.

Also, on Friday night the Killeeshil St Mary’s GAA club abandoned its minor training due to the smell. Club chairman, Colm Rafferty, who is also chair of the CCRA told the Tyrone Herald that the smell is now constant. He says that members and parents involved in the club have real concerns about what their children are breathing in.

“All we are asking for is the smell to stop,” Mr Rafferty said.

“This is a constant problem during every training session and for the whole community. We don’t know what is being breathed in by the players, and the community.”

Mr Rafferty continued, “The CRRA has been dealing with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and we are due to meet with Mid-Ulster Council later this month. Our committee has met Northway Mushrooms but no action has been taken and we have stopped dealing directly with them.

“We have no faith in the ability of the statutory organisations to do something to address our concerns. The smell from the plan has become steadily worse over the past six months.

“Agencies should be working for us, but that doesn’t appear to be the case at the moment.

“This is impacting severely on our players and managers and indeed our entire community.

“As club chairman, I ask the directors of Northway to please start dealing with this serious health issue immediately.”

Mr Rafferty also called on the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development as well as the Public Health Agency to take the necessary action to stop what he described as the “vile odour.”

“The people of this area have suffered enough and deserve to be protected by those who can within these agencies,” he added.

Concerns were raised about the plant in 2020. At that time the NIEA said it was aware of complaints in relation to the facility. They said that the facility was regulated by NIEA and that the company had made modifications and improvements to emission controls at the facility and that this work was ongoing. The matter was also discussed at a meeting of Mid Ulster District Council last year. It was said at that time, that the environmental health team would work within their powers to help Northway Mushrooms solve the problem.