‘A nasty mystery smell is blighting our town – it’s insufferable and getting worse’

An ‘insufferable’ smell is plaguing locals in Wales, who fear it will only get worse until authorities find what’s behind it.

Families living in Newport, Gwent, believe the odour is coming from the docks area – and officials are investigating.

Dockland officials have said the smell is not linked to port activities, but the stench has been reported for months now.

Natasha Asghar MS, MP for South Wales East, said: ‘With residents in various locations across Newport reporting a nasty ongoing odour, the city council and key partners must get to the bottom of this issue.

‘This issue has been rumbling on for several months now, and it is understandably having a negative impact on many of my constituents, yet it appears we are no closer to finding out what’s causing the problem.’

Associated British Ports said they’ve searched their operations and found nothing on site that would ‘produce the odour reported’.

Locals have said the stench is akin to rotten eggs and sulfur, with many blaming the Docks Way landfill site.

Others speculate it could be unaddressed sewage issues, but the culprit hasn’t yet been found.

National Resources Wales has gotten involved, conducting off-site odour assessments to find the source of the awful stench.

Some locals have blamed the Welsh water infrastructure, citing the £44.7 million enforcement package against Welsh Water for ‘serious and unacceptable’ breaches of the sewage network.

Newport City Council said that environmental protection officers are ‘carrying out monitoring visits in an effort to identify the source’.

Still, locals are becoming upset after months of dealing with the ‘insufferable’ odour.

One local commented: ‘It’s been weeks off and on. Farms are one smell, but this is chemical. Its dreadful some days.’

Another pointed out: ‘Normally it’s the local pig farm. But the other day the smell was sulphurous.’

One mum said: ‘I have young children, and even when all windows and doors are shut all night, I can smell it when I am up with them for feeds…

‘I am worried if it is not going to be good for their bodies/lungs? Probably sleep-deprived anxiety.’

One woman observed: ‘I have lived in Duffryn for 10 years, the smell has always been here. The flies are HORRIFIC, and every year they get worse. I always thought it was the maggot farm and the tip.’

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