Information about Omega Proteins at Penrith

Overview

This page provides easy access to information on our regulation of Omega Proteins, Penrith, Cumbria. We will keep this website updated with information on our investigations. We will also share any new community updates on this site.  Please check back regularly for further information.

This page was last updated on 14 August 2024. 

Reporting Odour

We are continuing to receive complaints and reports of odour in the Penrith area, which we are investigating. We would like residents to report odour in the area to us, as this helps us to build up a picture of its extent and impact. 

We are currently testing an alternative way to report odour online to the Environment Agency to make the service more accessible. These reports are treated in the same way as telephone reports. If you would like to try out this new way of reporting and provide feedback about the form you can report online here: Sign in - Report an environmental problem – GOV.UK. using access code: RPSM1CL. Please note this site is only open between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday (not including bank holidays). 
 
You can also report odour to us 24 hours a day on 0800 807060.

If you believe Omega Proteins may be the source of odours in Penrith you should also report this directly to the company as soon as possible. This will mean the company can quickly investigate the report. This is particularly important with intermittent odour.  You can contact the company on 07976 857 435 or email PenrithEnvironmental@omegaproteins.co.uk 

When you are reporting odour to us, it would help us if you could include the following information: 

Date and time when you smelt the odour: This is important as sometimes you may not be able to report the odour straight away. 

Location of the odour: This could be more than 1 location and not necessarily your home address.  

Weather conditions when you smelt the odour: Was it raining, dry, foggy, snowy, hot or cold? Was it windy and what was the wind direction if you know?  

Odour intensity: What did the odour smell of? How intense was it, using the scoring in the table below?  Intensity is different to annoyance, but you can comment on annoyance as part of your general description. 

Duration of the odour: How long did the odour last, when did you first smell it and when did you last smell it? Was it intermittent or constant?

Other information useful to us: Did you smell the odour in your home, when you opened a window or when you went outside? Have you smelt the odour before or reported it previously?

Community Updates: 

Omega Proteins Community Update 140824

Useful documents: 

HP3238AF permit 2023 v004 consolidated

Odour in Penrith

We continue to receive reports of odour in the Penrith area. Many of the reporters are attributing the odours to the rendering plant at Wildriggs operated by Omega Proteins (Leo Group). There are other sources of odour in the Penrith area,  including spreading on agricultural land and other Environment Agency regulated sites. 

The Environment Agency's role in regulating Omega Proteins 

The Environment Agency is the primary regulator of the rendering plant activities under the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations. Omega Proteins has an environmental permit that allows it to process animal by-products.

The environmental permit has conditions that Omega Proteins must follow to minimise the impact of the site to people and the environment. This includes controlling odour from the site. 

We regularly inspect Omega Proteins to check their compliance with their environmental permit conditions. 

We take enforcmement action in line with our enforcement and sanctions policy and the Government’s core guidance on environmental permitting if the comany breach their permit conditions. We also take account of the Regulators' Code. 

We assess compliance with the permit conditions in several ways. This includes site inspection, site audits, off-site odour assessments and review of reports and monitoring data. 

We are also surveying odour in the area to help us understand where odours may be coming from. 

Multi-Agency Working: 

We are working with partners at Westmorland & Furness Council to respond to residents’ complaints about odour.