Manure processor Den Ouden in Helmond can ignore the penalty payments it has received from the province. The Provincial Executive (GS), the day -to -day management of the province, had had the company paid up to a maximum of 150,000 euros. According to GS, there is too much smell from the chimney of the company on the Gerstdijk. The court in Den Bosch ruled on Tuesday that the province is not at all authorized to address the old ones.
The lawsuit does not fall from the sky. Residents of the Helmond district of Brouwhuis have been suffering from the stench of the Old for years. The company, the province and the municipality of Helmond have been in consultation with each other for years to put an end to the odor emission at the company. The Southeast Brabant Environment Agency and local residents are also involved in tackling the odor nuisance. In 2023, the municipality of Moegersvreden stepped out of the consultation.
Over -emission
The province still keeps a finger on the pulse. For example, she found out at the end of last year that the manure processor caused a ten times higher odor nuisance than was included in an environmental permit, at least that was her vision. The high emissions are harmful to the environment and that is why Den Ouden was imposed a penalty of 50,000 euros if there were no end to this. The ‘fine’ could be a maximum of 150,000 euros.
The company naturally looks at it very differently: it finds the measurement methods unreliable. Whether they are reliable or not, the court comes with another argument to put the province on its number: the alleged odor regulations are not laid down at all in the environmental permit issued in 2014. That is why the company does not have to adhere to that standard. There is no violation in the eyes of the judge. GS can therefore whistle for those penalty payments and must also reimburse the costs of the proceedings.
Profession is still possible
With this ruling, the discussion that causes the old people in Helmond is not expected to come to an end, if only because the province can appeal. Whether there is a chance of success. The province has already received a few times in cases against the company at the Council of State Nul on the Rekest.
The stink at Den Ouden has been so bad in the past that production had to be stopped a number of times. “You let the dog out with a clothes peg on your nose,” a local resident once told Omroep Brabant. The company has always said to do everything to prevent odors. And that the annoying smells also come from other companies on the site where Den Ouden is located.