A CO Wexford family who claimed they had to leave their home because of “horrendous” smells comparable to sewage and rotten eggs from an adjoining compost manufacturing plant have settled their High Court action.
Seán and Noeleen Byrne, who have two daughters, alleged a serious nuisance had been created by smells and noise from the Custom Compost plant, which makes compost used to grow mushrooms, beside their home at Ballyminaun Hill, near Gorey.
The company denied the facility caused a nuisance, noxious odours or excessive noise, and also pleaded that the family had lived beside the factory for a number of years before making complaints.
The case had opened last November before being adjourned and yesterday, Frank Callanan SC, for the Byrnes, told Ms Justice Mary Laffoy it had been settled and could be struck out on agreement. No details of the settlement were disclosed in court.
The couple had claimed smells, gases and fumes from the plant made their home unhealthy and they had to leave it last December for a smaller house, causing them trauma and upset. It was alleged the plant operates almost 24 hours a day seven days a week and only shuts down for two days a year.
The family moved into their home in 1984 and moved out in December 2007 into another house in Gorey town.
Since 1908, four generations of the Byrne family had lived at the cottage, the court heard. Mr Byrne, who operates a taxi service, had run a light engineering business at the rear of the premises.
The company has operated a facility at Ballyminaun since the late 1970s, one of two operated by the firm in the Gorey area, the court also heard.
In 1998, the company moved all its compost manufacturing to the site at Ballyminaun Hill, where it mixes raw materials including straw, horse manure, poultry manure and gypsum to make compost for growing mushrooms.